It’s the old dilemma of “would you rather?” – the choice between two difficult hypotheticals – which Carlos Alcaraz thought he had the answer for upon arriving in Australia, only for a curve ball to be thrown his way.
The top seed comes to Melbourne Park for Australian Open 2026 on the verge of history as he bids to complete the career Grand Slam this fortnight, a mission which begins on Sunday night against Australia’s Adam Walton.
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At the end of last year, having finished as year-end No.1 for the second time, the Spaniard was posed with his first hypothetical choice – a maiden Australian Open trophy, or two of the other major titles in 2026.
His immediate ambition was clear, and the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup won out.
On the eve of his fifth campaign at Melbourne Park, where his best result remains quarterfinal appearances in each of the past two years, the six-time major champion was handed a second hypothetical choice: an Australian Open title in 2026, or all of the other three Slams.
“Well, that's a good one,” Alcaraz grinned.
“I don't know. I don't know which one I would choose. Obviously completing the career Grand Slam is something amazing to do, to be able to be the youngest that has done it before, you know, is even better.
“But three [is] three. Three Grand Slams are three Grand Slams. So I don't know. It is a question that I got to think about it, not just a quick answer.”
Time is on the 22-year-old’s side. While the latest “would you rather?” left him stumped, he’s less likely to be caught off-guard in Sunday’s first tour-level hit-out of the new season.
Alcaraz – who played an exhibition against Jannik Sinner in Seoul and another against Alex de Minaur at RLA – has a fair idea what his 26-year-old Queensland opponent has in store. He claimed their only prior meeting on grass at Queen’s Club last year en route to the title.
Born and raised in Home Hill in North Queensland, Walton achieved his best ranking of world No.74 three months ago following a season that included a fourth round at Indian Wells and his first ATP semifinal in Los Cabos.
Women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka also begins her AO campaign on Sunday night when she takes on Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, a 20-year-old Frenchwoman born in Madagascar.
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The two have never met, and Rakotomanga Rajaonah faces a daunting task in her Rod Laver Arena debut.
The contrasts are stark between the pair. The left-handed Rakotomanga Rajaonah picked up her maiden tour title as a qualifier in Sao Paolo last September, and has contested just one Grand Slam main draw in Paris in 2025.
Sabalenka ended the season as year-end No.1 for the second successive year following a successful US Open title defence, her 21st career title.
This will be her first match back at Melbourne Park since her three-peat title bid ended against Madison Keys in last year’s final.
“That final was a tough one. She played incredible and overplayed me. Took me a little time to recover,” Sabalenka said.
“We had matches after that. I kind of, like, worked on my mistakes [from] those matches. Going to this AO, I'm not really focusing on that last year result. But of course I would like to do just a little bit better than I did last year.”
Women’s seventh seed Jasmine Paolini has the honour of playing the first match at Rod Laver Arena for AO 2026 when she takes on qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich on Sunday.
A Roland Garros and Wimbledon finalist two years ago, the 30-year-old warmed up for her seventh Melbourne Park campaign by representing Italy at the United Cup, where she split her two singles matches.
The 31-year-old Sasnovich, who prevailed the only time the two met previously in Palermo six years ago, has claimed seven of her past eight matches including a win over world No.14 Clara Tauson in Brisbane.
Closing out the RLA day session, men’s third seed Alexander Zverev squares off against Canadian Gabriel Diallo for the first time.
The German reached his third major final – at a third different Slam – last January before reigning champion Jannik Sinner had his number. In a measure of his consistency, the 28-year-old ended the year in the top three for the fourth time and the top 10 for the ninth time in the past decade.
The 41st-ranked Diallo collected his first ATP trophy last year in ’s-Hertogenbosch and reached the second round at all four Slams.