Carlos and Sabalenka
Carlos Alcaraz survived a tense battle against Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann to reach the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday, joining Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff among the tournament’s leading performers.
Alcaraz, a 22-year-old Spanish star chasing a career Grand Slam, overcame a challenging start to win 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena. He will next face either France’s Corentin Moutet or American Michael Zheng.
“To be honest, it was tougher than I thought,” Alcaraz said. “The ball was coming like a bomb on forehand and backhand.”
A victory at Melbourne would make him the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam, surpassing Rafael Nadal.
Three-time finalist Daniil Medvedev also advanced, defeating France’s Quentin Halys in four sets, 6-7 (9/11), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Medvedev now faces Fabian Marozsan of Hungary.
American Coco Gauff, seeded third, controlled her second-round match against Serbia’s Olga Danilovic, winning 6-2, 6-2 in 78 minutes on Margaret Court Arena. She will face fellow American Hailey Baptiste next.
Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka delivered a near-perfect performance, defeating China’s Bai Zhuoxuan 6-3, 6-1. Sabalenka will meet Russian-born Anastasia Potapova, who represents Austria and recently eliminated 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu.
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Other winners on day four included Alexander Zverev, Tommy Paul, Francisco Cerundolo, Tomas Etcheverry, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Andrey Rublev, Elina Svitolina, Zeynep Sonmez, and Victoria Mboko, all progressing in straight sets.
Evening matches will feature Australia’s Alex de Minaur against Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic and Priscilla Hon facing American Iva Jovic.
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