Carlos Alcaraz has plan for his next big tattoo but Sinner and Djokovic could ruin it | Tennis | Sport

Carlos Alcaraz has his sights set on more ink but whether or not he gets it could depend on Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner.

The Spaniard got tattoos to commemorate each of his first three Grand Slam triumphs. He opened his account at the US Open in 2022 and had ‘CCC’ inscribed near his elbow, which stands for ‘cabeza, corazon, cojones’ or ‘head, heart, balls’. He won Wimbledon the following year, which he marked with the date of his triumph and a strawberry on his right ankle. And he added the French Open to his collection in June.

Ahead of the Paris Masters this week, Alcaraz was asked whether an overall victory would convince him to add to the Eiffel Tower artwork he got to mark his win at Roland Garros.

“Uh, no,” he responded. “I said [I would get a tattoo] for the first Grand Slams I win, when I won the US Open, Wimbledon, Roland Garros, of course. But when I won Wimbledon for a second time I did not put a tattoo on it. So, hopefully Australian Open is going to be the next one.”

Since turning professional in 2018, Alcaraz has won four Grand Slam titles and spent time at the top of the men’s world rankings, but the Australian Open has so far eluded him.

Across three trips to Melbourne, the 21-year-old has never progressed further than the quarter-finals. In 2021 he reached the second round, in 2022 he made it to the third, and the following year he did not compete.

World No. 2 Alcaraz will once again be among the most-fancied players to lift the title when players jet to Australia in January. But Sinner and Djokovic will be there to provide stiff opposition.

And both players have better pedigree Down Under than Alcaraz. Sinner is the reigning Australian Open champion and currently the best player on the planet, with a quarter-final appearance also on his CV across five appearances in Melbourne.

Then there is Djokovic. No player has won more than his 10 Australian Open titles, which he racked up in just 16 years between 2008 and 2023. The 37-year-old has limited his schedule this season but has also shown, with runs to the finals of Wimbledon and the Shanghai Masters in his last three tournaments, that he still has the game to compete with the very best.

Djokovic and Alcaraz have developed a gripping rivalry since their first competitive meeting in 2022. Alcaraz prevailed in this year’s Wimbledon final before Djokovic took revenge in the gold medal match at the Paris Olympics.

Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev are also among the big hitters hoping to make an impact in Melbourne, while Nick Kyrgios is set to make a high-profile comeback and bid for Grand Slam glory.