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Carlos Alcaraz marched into round four of the ongoing Australian Open on Friday, outclassing Corentin Moutet to continue his bid for the maiden AO title.
Alcaraz, a six-time Grand Slam champion and world number one, aiming to outdo his two quarterfinal finishes at the tournament this time, looked in imperious touch for the majority of the match, beating Moutet 6-2, 6-4, 6-1. The Spanish star was off to a flyer but was tested in the second set. After leading 3-0 at one point, he dropped four successive games but managed to level things at 4-4 and eventually go ahead. The top-ranked star had a double-break lead in the third set and was fine with his finishing to advance to the next round within two hours and five minutes. "It was not easy," Alcaraz said, as quoted by ATP's official website. "When you play someone like Corentin, you do not know what is going to be next. That was really difficult to approach the match, but I had so much fun with it on the court. I think we both pulled off great shots, great points. I think there were a few highlights in the match. I'm grateful to play this kind of match against him," he added. Now, after playing 100 Grand Slam matches, Alcaraz is amongst the rarest of the rare players, levelling legendary Bjorn Borg, 11-time Grand Slam champion, for the best start to a Grand Slam career in the Open Era in the first 100 matches, with a brilliant win-loss record of 87-13. Alcaraz has leapfrogged several legends, including icon Rafael Nadal and John McEnroe, who both had a record of 86-14 in their first 100 major matches. Alcaraz's next challenge is the 19th seed Tommy Paul, who went past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who retired when the American was leading at 6-1, 6-1. The Spanish player retired due to some trouble with his left leg during the second set. It is a favourable match-up for Alcaraz, as he leads Paul 5-2 in the head-to-head battles. Up next for Alcaraz is 19th seed Tommy Paul, who advanced after Alejandro Davidovich Fokina retired with the American leading 6-1, 6-1. The Spaniard called the physio for a left leg issue in the second set. Alcaraz leads Paul 5-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Also, Russia's Daniil Medvedev made it to the fourth round, rallying from the brink of defeat to beat Fabian Marozsan 6-7(5), 4-6, 7-5, 6-0, 6-3 in a five-set thriller. This was the fifth instance in his career that he earned a win coming back from two sets to love down, and a crucial break at 5-5 during the third set helped change the wind in the match, helping him win after three hours and 43 minutes. "He played great, and I was like, 'If I lose, I lose,' but I'm just going to try; I am just going to fight," Medvedev said after the match. "I tried to go for it a bit more because he was moving me all around. It managed to work; I started playing better, so I am happy about it," he added. The former world number one, after a dismal 2025 season which saw him unable to make it to the third round of any of the Grand Slams last year, has made a fine start to the season with eight wins in eight matches, including an ATP 250 title at Brisbane this month. (ANI)
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