Carlos Alcaraz held off a resilient Adam Walton to make a winning start at the Australian Open in his quest to complete his career grand slam.

Alcaraz – who was playing his first match since ending his seven-year relationship with former coach Juan Carlos Ferrero – rallied after a slight wobble to triumph 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 at Rod Laver Arena.

The Spaniard started strongly, though Walton stood firm, holding off two break points through his first three service games as he stayed level with the world number one, who then got the vital break in the penultimate game of the first set.

However, Walton put him on the back foot in the second as he took a 3-1 lead, though Alcaraz hit straight back and the pair traded blows through to the tie-break.

The top seed reeled off four unanswered points to take control at 5-1, and did not let Walton back in.

The Australian, who was bidding to reach the second round of his home slam for the first time, initially matched his opponent well in the third set, too, but Alcaraz won the last four games in a row to book his place in the next round.

All smiles for @carlosalcaraz pic.twitter.com/UVd68zowdD

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2026

Elsewhere, Alexander Zverev overcame an early wobble to make it through in Melbourne.

He dropped the first set against Gabriel Diallo but rallied to earn a 6-7 (1-7) 6-1 6-4 6-2 victory in two hours and 45 minutes.

As such, Zverev is the first player to reach the men's singles second round at the Australian Open in each of the last 10 seasons – Karen Khachanov can also achieve this feat.

And British qualifier Arthur Fery upset 20th seed Flavio Cobolli, earning the first win of the Australian Open men's draw.

He triumphed 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 6-1 against the Italian, with two of his three tour-level victories coming at grand slam level, having also beaten Alexei Popyrin at Wimbledon last year.

Data Debrief: Starting on a high

Alcaraz is aiming to become just the sixth man (and the youngest) in the Open Era to win all four major titles at least once, and he got off to a strong start.

He is the fourth player in the Open Era to win the opening match in each of his first 20 men's singles grand slam appearances, after Arthur Ashe, Bjorn Borg and Rafael Nadal.

Alcaraz (71) claimed the most match wins of any player at ATP level in 2025, and he now has the first of 2026 under his belt.