Kamal Ghorui
Carlos Alcaraz is still coming to terms with what he achieved in Melbourne — and he already knows how he wants to remember it forever. Somewhere on one of his calves, a small kangaroo may soon find a permanent home.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Fresh from defeating Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final to become the youngest man at 22 to complete a career Grand Slam, Alcaraz revealed that a tattoo is on his mind. “I already know it’s going to be a kangaroo. I just don’t know the place,” he said with a smile. “I’m just thinking about the leg but I don’t know which calf, whether it will be the right or left one.”The idea feels fitting for a moment that has altered his place in tennis history. On Monday, Alcaraz posed casually with the Australian Open trophy at Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building, dressed in black loafers and no socks, looking far removed from the tension of Sunday night’s epic. According to local reports, celebrations were understated — pizza, beer and champagne with family back at his hotel.“I still can’t believe that I just made it,” Alcaraz wrote on social media. “A dream come true for me, a career Grand Slam. I’m enjoying this amazing moment.”That disbelief lingered even during the final moments of his four-set win over Djokovic. “Before the last point… a lot of things came to my mind,” he admitted. “I was really nervous, I was shaking almost. So once I saw the ball go out, I was like, ‘alright, I made it.’”By lifting the trophy, Alcaraz joined an exclusive club of just nine men to win all four majors, doing so younger than Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer or Djokovic. Yet he knows the sport rarely allows time to pause. “The bad part of tennis is we have tournaments week after week,” he reflected. “Sometimes you don’t realise what you’ve been doing.”
