Australian Open live: ‘Legendary’ Alcaraz completes career grand slam as Djokovic responds to defeat

“What he's doing is inspiring. It is inspiring for all the athletes.

“What he's putting his body, his mind, his life into playing a final of a Grand Slam again, people saying that he was not going to play another Grand Slam final or he was not going to beat Jannik or myself.

“Then he comes and playing such great tennis and beating Jannik in the semi-final, and here in the final played such great tennis. So it's unbelievable what he's doing.

”If he maintains this level of tennis during the whole season, he's going to win great things - probably a Master 1000 again. He's going to come to a Grand Slam final again.

“It depends how physically he is or how demanding physically is the tournament for him, but I think he's ready to keep winning the big tournaments in the tour.”

After the electric comebacks, the magical shot-making, and the passion, belief and smile that had defined his remarkable ascent, this was the moment where Carlos Alcaraz took the step from generational talent to stand in the pantheon of the greatest tennis players of all time. As Novak Djokovic sensed his opportunity to make history, Alcaraz wrote his own: by winning his first Australian Open title, overturning Djokovic to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 and under enormous pressure, Alcaraz becomes the youngest man of all time to complete the career grand slam at 22 years and 272 days.

”I hate losing, so that's my motivation. Trying to lose as less as I can,” Alcaraz says.

”There are some tournaments that I really wanted to win at least once. A few Masters 1000s... I just really wanted to complete all the Masters 1000s.

Obviously the ATP Finals. The Davis Cup is a goal as well. I really wanted to achieve that for my country, for Spain.

“I set up some other goals for the season, and I will try to be ready to get those goals.”

Novak Djokovic was proud of his record-breaking run to the Australian Open final at the age of 38 but could not hide his disappointment as his bid for a 25th grand slam singles title slipped by in defeat to Carlos Alcaraz.

Djokovic, though, was left to rue a couple of missed opportunities in the fourth set, particularly on break point at 4-4 when he had a look at Alcaraz’s second serve but dumped a forehand return into the net.

Carlos Alcaraz revealed he would celebrate winning a first Australian Open title by getting a tattoo of a kangaroo after completing the career grand slam in Melbourne.

The Spaniard has a strawberry to celebrate Wimbledon, an Eiffel Tower to mark his French Open and added the Statue of Liberty in September after winning his second US Open title in New York.

Carlos Alcaraz summed up his “legendary” achievement of winning all four grand slam titles to complete the career grand slam by writing “Job finished. 4/4 complete” on the court-side camera.

The 22-year-old become the youngest man to complete the career grand slam after beating Novak Djokovic in four sets to win his first Australian Open title.

Alcaraz is also the youngest man to win seven grand slam singles titles after adding his first Australian Open to two titles at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.

Having won the French Open twice, Wimbledon twice and the US Open twice, Carlos Alcaraz is now just another Australian Open away from completing the double career grand slam.

For context, only four have done that before. Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic (who is the only player to win the triple career grand slam).

But Djokovic did it at 34 when he won a second French Open. Nadal did it at 35 when he won a second Australian Open.

Alcaraz could do it at 23 if he defends his Australian Open title next year!

Novak Djokovic paid tribute to the “legendary” Rafael Nadal in his runner-up speech at the Australian Open, after his former rival watched the final from the stands.

Djokovic fell to another incredibly talented Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz, in four sets as his bid for a standalone record 25th major title fell short.

Alcaraz triumphed 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 to write history of his own, becoming the youngest man in history and only the ninth ever to record the career grand slam - winning all four majors.

“A lot has changed since then. He has improved physically, mentally, game-wise. He's constantly looking to innovate his game, which is exactly the kind of mentality that needs to be nurtured for a champion.

“It's never enough in terms of settling with your game. You have to progress. Otherwise, you regress because everyone else progresses.

”He has everything, the whole package. Really, as I said, a nice guy and very respected. So congrats to him, to his team, to his family. I mean, he's only 22. I mean, it's unbelievable.”

“The results are a testament to his already stellar career. I can't think of any other superlatives about him. He deserves every bit of the praise that he gets from his peers, but also the whole tennis community.

“He's a very nice, young man. Good values, nice family. Of course, already a legendary tennis player that made already a huge mark in the history books of tennis, I mean, with only 22 years of age.

“It's super impressive, no doubt about it. First time I played him, he was, what, 11 or 12 years old! No, he was, I think, 18 or 19. You could already see that he's destined for great things.