Sports
Hatred of losing drives relentless Alcaraz to history in Melbourne
MELBOURNE: Carlos Alcaraz says that his absolute hatred of losing drives him to keep making landmarks after becoming the youngest man to win all four Grand Slam tournaments.
The Spaniard beat Serbian great Novak Djokovic in four sets in Sunday’s Australian Open final, adding his first Melbourne crown to his Wimbledon, US Open and French Open titles.
In doing it at the age of 22 he surpassed legendary compatriot Rafael Nadal, who was 24 when he completed a career Grand Slam of all four majors.
The now-retired Nadal was at Rod Laver Arena to see the world number one beat Djokovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5, and Alcaraz said his presence helped inspire him to victory.
It was Alcaraz’s seventh major title and he will head to the other three Grand Slams in 2026 as the man to beat once more, with world number two Jannik Sinner his closest rival.
“I hate losing, so that’s my motivation,” said Alcaraz, who plans to have a tattoo of a kangaroo to mark his achievement.
He declined to say if a rare calendar Grand Slam — winning all four majors in the same year — was next on his hit-list.
“Well, it’s going to be a big challenge. Those are big words, to be honest. You know, I just want it to be one at a time,” he said.
But Alcaraz does want to win the season-ending ATP Finals, having been defeated by the Italian Sinner last year in the title decider.
And a Davis Cup crown with Spain is also on his radar.
Alcaraz surprisingly split with coach Juan Carlos Ferrero in December after seven hugely successful years together, with assistant coach Samuel Lopez taking over.
He has not divulged the reasons behind the change in any depth, but took satisfaction from triumphing in Melbourne given all the speculation beforehand.
“Just happy to prove all the people were wrong,” he said.
Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2026
Sports
Pakistan comfortably beat USA by 32 runs, make amends for routing in previous T20 World Cup clash
Finn Allen and Tim Seifert posted a T20 World Cup record partnership of 175 as New Zealand crushed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 10 wickets with almost five overs to spare in Chennai on Tuesday.
Chasing the UAE’s 173-6, Seifert struck an unbeaten 89 and Allen scored 84 not out as they pummelled the UAE bowling to all parts of the ground in an unbroken opening stand.
The opening pair crashed 78 from the first six-over power play and posted their century stand off only 8.3 overs.
Seifert hit one of his three huge sixes to clinch the contest after just 15.2 overs; he also struck 12 fours. Allen had five sixes and five fours.
They beat the previous record for any wicket at a T20 World Cup — an unbroken 170 by England openers Alex Hales and Jos Buttler against India in the semi-final of the 2022 edition at the Adelaide Oval.
“The main thing is that we’re playing how we want to play, especially me and Finn putting pressure on the bowlers in the power play,” said Seifert, who was named player of the match.
“Every game’s going to be a little bit different, every ground’s going to be different,” he said.
“So in a World Cup, you’ve just got to be able to adapt to the conditions you’re playing in.”
Seifert said he was unaware the pair had posted a new World Cup record partnership for any wicket.
“No, I didn’t know that,” he said. “I’m not much of a stats guy, but look, we’ll take it.”
The UAE’s 173-6 was largely thanks to their captain Muhammad Waseem’s 66 not out.
Choosing to bat first, Waseem and Alishan Sharafu put on 107 for the second wicket. It took a sensational piece of New Zealand fielding to break the partnership.
Mark Chapman intercepted a Sharafu slog-sweep a whisker inside the boundary and, before he stepped over the ropes, relayed the ball to Daryl Mitchell to complete the dismissal.
The 31-year-old Waseem, who was one of only three current UAE players to play in their last appearance in a T20 World Cup in 2022, hit four fours and three sixes in facing 45 balls.
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