The biggest highlight of the 2026 season: Who among Sinner, Alcaraz, and Swiatek will be the first to complete the Career Grand Slam?

As the Australian Open keeps generating discussions about the 2026 champion, a fascinating debate has arisen among fans, eager to see which of the three leading post-2000 players—Sinner, Alcaraz, or Swiatek—will be the first to complete a Career Grand Slam, marking the top storyline in tennis for the coming year.

At present, Sinner is missing a French Open trophy; meanwhile, Alcaraz and Swiatek have yet to win the Australian Open. Given that the Australian Open occurs before the French Open, it seems Alcaraz and Swiatek might have a greater chance than Sinner to cross the finish line first in the race for the Career Grand Slam.

Is that really the case? Many say, not necessarily!

Although Alcaraz has long been seen as Sinner’s lifelong rival, this Spaniard, for some reason, has won two titles each at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open, but has struggled to break past the quarterfinals at the Australian Open.

Recently, in an interview about the Australian Open, Alcaraz admitted his results there have been disappointing and emphasized that conquering the Australian Open is a key goal for his 2026 season, aiming to make a major breakthrough and complete the Career Grand Slam.

However, many question Alcaraz’s determination, asking if he can truly claim the title at the Australian Open?

As the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open is widely believed to favor players like Sinner who excel on hard courts. The new season just begins, players are full of energy and fitness, and everyone is motivated to perform well at the opening major, creating a unique competitive drive.

Many now think the Australian Open doesn’t quite favor Alcaraz because on this hard-court Grand Slam, he faces tough challengers beyond Sinner, including Zverev and Djokovic, who stand as formidable obstacles to his Career Grand Slam ambitions—not to mention the possibility of surprise dark horses emerging.

Moreover, without Ferrero as his spiritual support, Alcaraz’s challenge to win the Australian Open next year becomes even tougher. For example, in the 2024 Australian Open, with Ferrero recovering from surgery and unable to accompany him in Melbourne, many predicted the Spaniard would struggle, and that prediction came true.

Therefore, some openly say Sinner is the most likely to achieve the Career Grand Slam before Alcaraz does.

The Italian had a chance to complete the Career Grand Slam this year but lost the French Open final after wasting match points and being overturned by Alcaraz, forcing him to postpone the dream. Otherwise, after winning Wimbledon, he would have become the sixth player in the Open Era to achieve this feat, joining Laver, Agassi, Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic.

Based on Sinner’s performance at the French Open this year, many believe he has laid a solid foundation. Next year at Roland Garros, he will surely learn from this year’s painful experience. Plus, with Alcaraz having removed Ferrero from his team, more people are convinced that Sinner has a very good chance to conquer Roland Garros and make up for narrowly missing the Career Grand Slam last year.

Sinner is favored to achieve the Career Grand Slam before Alcaraz next year, while Polish player Swiatek is seen as the most likely among these three post-2000 tennis leaders to be the first to complete this great achievement.

After lifting the Rosewater Dish at Wimbledon this year, Swiatek has moved one step closer to the Career Grand Slam, now only missing the Australian Open.

Although the Australian Open is Swiatek’s weakest Grand Slam, many believe her semifinal loss this year to Keys was not due to being outplayed, but rather bad luck at critical moments.

Therefore, when the new season resumes next year, fueled by her strong motivation to complete the Career Grand Slam, everyone expects Swiatek to show a renewed version of herself and let the world witness how she climbs step by step to the pinnacle of Melbourne, claiming the ultimate honor in professional tennis.

Though the Australian Open seems to favor Sabalenka, some believe it will be difficult for Swiatek to challenge the Belarusian’s dominance in Melbourne. However, others point out that based on Sabalenka’s performance in last year’s final, where the world No.1 faltered against Keys, Sabalenka is far from dominating the Australian Open, and Swiatek stands a real chance to defeat her if they meet.

Additionally, a key reason many trust Swiatek’s chances at the Australian Open is that she has maintained a perfect record of winning every Grand Slam final she has reached—six for six. This alone makes people hold her in high regard.

Whether Alcaraz can overcome the doubts about him at next year’s Australian Open, and whether Swiatek will fulfill expectations by achieving the Career Grand Slam ahead of Sinner and Alcaraz, has already sparked great enthusiasm among fans and netizens for the 2026 Australian Open!(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Moonlit River’s Starry Sky)