Melbourne [Australia], January 15: Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz continued his march toward a Career Grand Slam by reaching the third round of the Australian Open with a commanding victory over Yoshihito Nishioka.
Alcaraz produced an impressive display of both power and finesse, defeating Nishioka 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 in just one hour and 22 minutes. He dominated the match from the start, dropping only four points in the opening set and winning his first nine games before conceding a point.
Reflecting on his performance, Alcaraz said, “The less time you spend on court at a Grand Slam, especially in the early rounds, the better it is physically. I feel great and just tried to stay focused on spending as little time on court as possible.”
Alcaraz improved his record against left-handed players at Grand Slams to 8-0, and served 14 aces without facing a single break point, a significant improvement after his first-round match where he faced four break points against Alexander Shevchenko. He was particularly pleased with his serve, which he has been working on intensively since the pre-season.
“I’m really happy with my serve today,” he said. “It’s something I’ve worked on with my team, especially after struggling a bit in the first round. I spent extra time practicing it with Juan Carlos Ferrero, my coach, and it paid off today.”
With a 2-0 head-to-head record over Nishioka, Alcaraz now turns his focus to his next opponent, Nuno Borges, in the third round as he continues his pursuit of becoming the youngest player to win every Grand Slam title at just 21 years old.