Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz is planning on leaving Australian with a permanent memento, but there is one big condition behind his pledge to get a tattoo of a kangaroo.
The Spanish tennis prodigy, has rapidly risen to prominence, becoming the youngest player to reach world No. 1 in the ATP rankings after his US Open victory in 2022.
He has already claimed multiple ATP titles, including Grand Slam and Masters 1000 tournaments, by the age of 20.
Alcaraz is widely regarded as the future of men’s tennis and a strong contender for more major championships, including the Australian Open.
Now he has vowed to get a tattoo of a kangaroo after his time at the 2025 Australian Open, but only if he hoists the trophy aloft at the end of the second week.
‘It’s a kangaroo, that’s for sure. That’s my idea,’ he said of the tattoo.
Carlos Alcaraz has already won Wimbledon, the US Open and the French Open
He has got ink to commemorate his grand slam victories, including the Eiffel Tower for his French Open triumph
‘The only thing I miss is to lift the trophy here, but the plan is already taken.’
There is little question of Alcaraz following through. He already has a strawberry for his two Wimbledon crowns, an Eiffel Tower tattoo for his French Open success and had the date of his US Open triumph inked on his skin as well.
But there is a significant roadblock standing between Alcaraz and an Australian Open title – and kangaroo tattoo. And his name is Novak Djokovic.
It seems inevitable but Djokovic and Alcaraz say it’s too early to lock in a blockbuster Australian Open quarter-final between the tennis titans.
Djokovic and Alcaraz are each one tantalising win away from setting up the Tuesday night show-stopper after surging into the second week at Melbourne Park.
But the grand slam giants know two pesky in-form opponents stand between renewing their rivalry, which delivered classic Wimbledon and Paris Olympic finals last year.
Chasing an 11th Open crown and record 25th grand slam singles title, Djokovic first must end the undefeated summer run of 24th seed Jiri Lehecka on Sunday.
Like Djokovic, Lehecka thrives playing in Australia, adding the Brisbane International trophy to his only other ATP title accrued in Adelaide last year.
Alcaraz has now vowed to get a kangaroo tattoo if he can win the Australian Open this year
Standing between Alcaraz and his tattoo is Novak Djokovic, who has enjoyed the wood over the young Spaniard in recent years
The 23-year-old has continued his hot start to 2025 in Melbourne, dropping only one set in three matches thus far.
Djokovic knows he may have a battle on his hands, even after producing his best performance of the tournament in ousting Lehecka’s countryman Tomas Machac for the loss of just nine games in round three.
‘Lehecka has won Brisbane and is in really good form, winning comfortably his first three rounds here,’ said the seventh-seeded Serb.
‘I can expect another aggressive player that plays very flat, similar to what I experienced (against Machac) and hopefully the result will be the same.
‘There are some similarities between him and Machac, I think.
‘The Czech tennis school backhands are terrific. I mean, such solid backhands.
‘Lehecka is one of the fittest guys on the tour, and his serve is underestimated. He’s a big weapon. Wins a lot of free points in the first serve.
‘The more matches you win, the more confident you are, so I’m sure this kind of match-up comes at the right time for him. I’m sure he feels that he can beat me.’
Standing in Alcaraz’s way of a quarter-final berth – and potentially becoming the youngest man to complete a career grand slam in Melbourne – is dogged Englishman Jack Draper.
The 15th seed has pulled off three epic victories from two sets to one down to make the last 16.
He’s broken Australian hearts with back-to-back comeback victories over Thanasi Kokkinakis and Aleksandar Vukic.
And Alcraz knows Draper – and the threat he poses – well.
‘I know that he’s a really difficult player. He has a great level. We had plans to practise together in the preseason,’ said the Spanish third seed.
‘He was going to come to the academy but he couldn’t do that at the end because he was a little bit injured.
‘But we have a good relationship off the court. We practise a few times. I’m pretty sure we are going to practise or in the next preseason at Alicante or in London, whatever.
‘He’s a nice guy. Let’s see against him the next round.’
