Four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz lost just five games in an ill-fated show of strength at the Australian Open on Wednesday to advance to the third round. The third-seeded Spaniard showed no mercy towards Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka, who received a lesson 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 at Margaret Court Arena in 81 minutes. “The less time you spend on court at the Grand Slams, especially at the beginning, the better it will be,” said Alcaraz, who won Roland Garros and Wimbledon last year but never advanced past the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park. .
He added: “Physically I feel good and I was just focusing on spending as little time as possible on the field.”
He is bidding to become Australia’s youngest men’s winner since Novak Djokovic won the first of his 10 titles in 2008.
If he does so, Alcaraz will also become the youngest player to complete a career Grand Slam, with his impressive form so far boding well for the 21-year-old.
He won his first round match in straight sets and came out strong against No. 65 Nishioka.
The Japanese player could barely get his racket to the ball in the first set, winning just two of 16 points at the baseline and just four points in the entire set.
Alcaraz has tweaked his serve in the offseason while in Melbourne with a lighter racket, and the results have been evident.
He fired five aces in the second set, winning a whopping 91 percent of his first serve points to deny Nishioka any chance.
“I’m really happy with my serve today. It’s something I’ve worked on in pre-season,” he said.
“In the first round I struggled a little bit. But I spent more time yesterday practicing my serve, and that’s something I really want to get better at.
“I’m really happy that things went well today and I hope it will be even better in the next round.”
The Japanese player tried his best to win in the third set, but the gap in line was too wide and the victory was a formality.
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Topics mentioned in this article
Australian Open 2025
Tennis
