Carlos Alcaraz’s bid to win the 2026 Australian Open began on Sunday, when he defeated Adam Walton in the first round.
Alcaraz, who is attempting to win his first title in Australia, defeated the home favourite 6-3, 7-6, 6-2.
The Spaniard was made to work hard by Walton, who broke Alcaraz’s serve midway through the second set.
However, Walton’s hopes of causing an upset were quickly extinguished, with Alcaraz breaking back soon after and eventually closing out the match in comprehensive style.
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Alcaraz has a history of struggling during his first matches at tournaments; often needing time to get into rhythm before customarily demolishing his opponents.
Alcaraz avoided such a scenario on Sunday, but later admitted that his contest against Walton was far from ‘simple.’
Carlos Alcaraz says the opening matches of Grand Slams are ‘never simple’
As mentioned already, Alcaraz has previously struggled in opening matches at Grand Slam tournaments.
Most notably, the Spaniard was pushed to five sets by Fabio Fognini in the first round of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships.
It would be incorrect to suggest Alcaraz ‘struggled’ against Adam Walton on Sunday. However, the match was certainly far from a routine affair.
“The truth is that the first match is never simple,” Alcaraz said in an interview with Eurosport Spain.
“As I said, opening matches at Grand Slams are never easy. It’s the first of the season, my first official match of the year. We came in doing things very well, focusing on the key things we needed to do.
““I think today was a match with ups and downs as well—some very good levels, some slightly less good levels, and some difficult situations.
“I think for a first match, it’s quite good to resolve these types of situations. But overall, it was very good.
“Three sets, time on court, getting the competitive rhythm back again. I’m really happy to move on and get my first win of the season.”
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Alcaraz will hope to advance further in the tournament and battle for the title against the likes of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, who recently rated his chances of beating Alcaraz and Sinner in Melbourne.
Who will Carlos Alcaraz face in the second round?
In the Australian Open second round, Carlos Alcaraz will play world number 102 Yannick Hanfmann.
Hanfmann, of Germany, defeated American player Zachary Svajda on Sunday: 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6.
Hanfmann [pictured below], 34, is an experienced figure on the ATP Tour and a player who could pose a threat to Alcaraz.
The German player has a history of challenging the world’s best players, as demonstrated by his victory against then-world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2023 Mallorca Open.
More recently, Hanfmann proved his worth against Novak Djokovic, eventually losing 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 to the Serbian superstar at the 2025 Shanghai Masters.
The winner of Alcaraz and Hanfmann will play Corentin Moutet or Michael Zheng in the Australian Open third round.
