Carlos Alcaraz launches his bid for a career Grand Slam on Sunday “hungry” for an elusive Australian Open title, while Aryna Sabalenka is laser-focused on clinching a third Melbourne crown.

The first major of the year gets under way as a 15-day event for the third time running, aimed at cutting down on late-night finishes.

Top seed Alcaraz is desperate to win it, having failed to go past the quarter-finals in four previous trips to Australia.

The title is the only one missing from his major collection, which currently consists of two French Opens, two US Opens and two Wimbledons.

“This is my main goal for this year,” Alcaraz, who gets under way in the night match on Rod Laver Arena against home player Adam Walton, said.

“I’m just hungry for the title, hungry to do a really good result here.”

He has met the 79th-ranked Walton once before, at Queen’s in London last year, when he won 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).

Should the 22-year-old complete the career Slam he would join an exclusive club as just the sixth man to win all four major titles after Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Rod Laver.

He would also become the youngest, surpassing Nadal, who was 24 at the time.

But he has a big roadblock in front of him, with Italy’s Jannik Sinner the two-time defending champion and in peak physical condition.

Sinner, who beat Alexander Zverev in last year’s final and went on to win Wimbledon, opens against France’s Hugo Gaston, who he has met twice before but not since 2021.

“We worked a lot physically,” Sinner said of his pre-season. “The physical part now is so, so important because the matches can get very long and also very intense.

“You have to be at the top physical level as long as you can.”

Assuming he gets that far, Sinner could meet 10-time champion Djokovic in the semi-finals before a potential clash with Alcaraz for the title.

Djokovic would surpass Margaret Court as the outright Slam leader on 25 titles should he turn back the clock and upstage his younger rivals.

He has a tricky opener against Spain’s Pedro Martinez.

Zverev, in the same half of the draw as Alcaraz, is also in action Sunday against Canadian Gabriel Diallo.

World number 10 Alexander Bublik takes on American Jenson Brooksby.

Sabalenka hot favourite

Top-ranked Sabalenka kicks off against French wildcard Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, preceding Alcaraz onto Rod Laver Arena.

The Belarusian went into last year’s final aiming to become the first woman since Martina Hingis to win three consecutive Australian Opens.

But she was stunned by Madison Keys, a setback she admitted “took me a little time to recover” from.

“I’m not really focusing on that result last year,” said Sabalenka, who won the Brisbane title last week. “But of course I would like to do just a little bit better than I did last year.”

Keys failed to really kick on from clinching a maiden Grand Slam and is in Australia as the ninth seed.

She will need to improve after clocking up nearly 50 unforced errors in her early exit at the warm-up Adelaide International.

She meets debutant Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine and could face Jessica Pegula in the last 16 and Amanda Anisimova in the last eight.

“I’m really trying to push myself to kind of evolve and add more things to my game,” said the American.

Sabalenka’s chief rival, six-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek is, like Alcaraz, angling for a career Grand Slam in Melbourne.

“Obviously it would be a dream come true,” said the Polish star, who is yet to go beyond the semi-finals.

She will begin against Chinese qualifier Yuan Yue.

Seventh seed Jasmine Paolini, 12th seed Elena Svitolina and veteran Venus Williams are also in action on Sunday.

Pakistan’s futsal breakthrough continued at the SAFF Championship in Thailand as the men’s team secured their first-ever international win on Friday, a day after the women recorded Pakistan’s maiden futsal victory.

In the men’s event, Pakistan came back from a 2–0 deficit to beat Bhutan 4–2 at the Hua Mak Indoor Arena in Bangkok, registering their first international victory in futsal.

Bhutan’s Dawa Shering put his side ahead with two quick goals early on, but Pakistan responded through Hassan Zafar, who scored in the 28th minute to cut the deficit.

Asif Ahmed Chaudhry levelled the match in the 32nd minute before Adnan Ashfaq struck in the 34th and 35th minutes to complete the turnaround and seal the win.

Pakistan’s starting five for the match featured Tahir Khan, Hassaan Zafar, Humza Nusrat, Nisar Hussain and Salar Khan, with Abdul Wadud, Humza Khan, Asif Ahmad, Adnan Ashfaq, Ali Agha, Abdul Hannan, Zaid Khan, Muhammad Elham and Rajab Ali listed among the substitutes.

Pakistan had opened the tournament with a 7–1 defeat to the Maldives in their first match.

In the women’s event, Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka 3–2 on Thursday, with Azwa Chaudhry scoring a hat-trick to deliver the women’s team’s first-ever international futsal win.

Reacting to the landmark results, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) said on Instagram that Pakistan’s women’s and men’s futsal teams had “created history by winning their first-ever international matches at SAFF Futsal 2026”.

The PFF said the teams delivered the wins “despite a lack of Futsal infrastructure in the country and the challenges”, adding that Pakistan women beat Sri Lanka 3–2 while the men’s team “came from behind to win against Bhutan 4-2”.

PFF President Mohsen Gilani credited the achievement to the resilience and efforts of the coaches and players, saying: “our players and coaches have made history and we will build on this foundation to take Futsal to greater heights and make Pakistan a force in Futsal”.

The federation also said referees and coaches from Pakistan “completed their courses for Futsal during the SAFF Championship”.

The women’s team returns to face the Maldives today at 6:00pm Pakistan time, while the men’s team will play Sri Lanka in their next match on January 18.

Duke starting quarterback Darian Mensah is entering the NCAA transfer portal.

Mensah submitted his request for transfer paperwork Friday, ahead of the midnight deadline for FBS and FCS players to enter the portal.

“This wasn’t an easy decision, but after talking with my family, I believe it’s in my best interest to enter the transfer portal,” Mensah said in a post on X.

Miami looms as the expected favorite in Mensah’s recruitment when he officially becomes available. The Hurricanes have signed transfer quarterbacks in consecutive years — Cam Ward and Carson Beck — and have not landed one during the two-week transfer window that opened Jan. 2.

Mensah had decided Dec. 19 to return to Duke for his redshirt junior season after exploring the possibility of entering the NFL draft. He was No. 5 in Mel Kiper Jr.’s quarterback rankings for the 2026 draft before his latest decision.

The quarterback was entering the second year of a two-year deal with Duke that would pay him up to $4 million in 2026. If Mensah leaves Duke, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel that his contract grants the university his exclusive name, image and likeness rights, which could prevent Mensah from earning revenue-sharing money at his next school unless Duke terminates its deal. There is not a specific buyout amount in Mensah’s contract with Duke, sources told Thamel.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound redshirt sophomore from San Luis Obispo, California, transferred from Tulane to Duke after the 2024 season and led the Blue Devils to their first outright ACC championship since 1962 with a 27-20 overtime upset of No. 17 Virginia in the conference title game.

Mensah earned second-team All-ACC honors after producing a conference-leading 3,973 passing yards on 67% passing with 35 total touchdowns and six interceptions. He has started 27 career games at Tulane and Duke, and has two more years of eligibility.

If Mensah departs the program on the final day of the NCAA transfer window, it will put coach Manny Diaz and the Blue Devils in a difficult position with few proven options available in the portal.

Backup quarterback Henry Belin IV already entered the portal as a graduate transfer and committed to Missouri State on Thursday.

Duke closed out a 9-5 season with a 42-39 victory over Arizona State in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl on Dec. 31.