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The World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz dazzled at the Rod Laver Arena on Monday to seal a quarterfinal berth for the first time at the Australian Open after the Spaniard raced past Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 in the fourth round.
Inside Rod Laver Arena, the 20-year-old Alcaraz secured the lone break in the first two sets before displaying some brilliant baseline hitting in the third to complete a dominant one-hour, 49-minute victory. The Spaniard's next opponent at Melbourne Park will be Alexander Zverev, who earlier defeated Cameron Norrie 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(10-3). "I'm feeling better and better every day. Every match that I play here in Rod Laver Arena, I'm feeling more comfortable. Obviously, it is a pleasure to play here. It's an amazing court, a beautiful one. I enjoy playing here and showing my best level. It feels like home, which is always great, so I hope to keep feeling better and better every day," said Alcaraz in his on-court interview as quoted by ATP. The only prior ATP Head2Head match between Alcaraz and Kecmanovic ended in a thrilling tie-break victory for the Spaniard in a final set in Miami in 2022. The Serbian had little time to adjust thanks to Alcaraz's enormous baseline striking. With 43 victories, the two-time major champion used groundstrokes 18 times. Alcaraz seemed to step it up a notch as he surged ahead for the win after taking the first two sets. His aggressive and unrelenting style produced some incredible wins from both wings, raising the fans to their feet during the night session. "I think everything [worked] tonight. In Miami in 2022 it was a really close match, a high level from both of us. I think today it was a pretty good match as well, but I pushed him to the limit with every ball, in every point," said Alcaraz of his performance against Kecmanovic. "Obviously he has played a lot of matches in five sets, a lot of tough matches before this one, so probably physically he wasn't at 100 per cent. Every ball I pushed him to the limit, moved him side to side. I took my chances in every set, and I think it was a pretty good match from myself," the Spaniard added. (ANI)
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