Alcaraz reaches Australian Open fourth round for first time

Australia's second seed Carlos Alcaraz had little trouble as Chinese opponent Shang Juncheng retired mid-match due to injury in the third round on January 20.

Shang retired after losing the first game of the third set due to injury. The 18-year-old had played nine sets in the first two matches. He suffered a pain in his right thigh in the second set and had to seek medical attention. Shang won only one game in each of the first two sets, completely outclassed by Alcaraz.

Alcaraz advanced after his opponent retired at 1-6, 1-6, 0-1 on January 20 at Rod Laver Stadium, Melbourne, Australia. Photo: ATP — Alcaraz advanced after his opponent retired at 1-6, 1-6, 0-1 on January 20 at Rod Laver Stadium, Melbourne, Australia. Photo: *ATP*

This is the first time Alcaraz has met a junior after 201 ATP Tour matches, and the first time he has gone beyond the third round of a Grand Slam in Melbourne. The Spaniard's fourth round opponent is Mimomir Kecmanovic, who needed five sets to overcome Tommy Paul.

"I feel really great," Alcaraz said of his journey at the Australian Open. "I'm improving every day, even though I'm still getting used to the surface. This is one of the places I've played the least since the beginning of my career."

The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam Alcaraz has not reached the semi-finals. He could take the top spot from Novak Djokovic if he wins next week.

Moving on to the next round on January 20 is young talent Arthur Cazaux. After defeating Holger Rune in the previous round, the Frenchman only needed three sets with the scores of 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 to overcome the other seed, Tallon Griekspoor. Cazaux did not even face a break-point to reach the fourth round of the Grand Slam for the first time. He will meet ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz in a match of the two top servers of this year's tournament.

The high-profile match between Cameron Norrie and Casper Ruud ended in a 6-4, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory for the British player. It was the third consecutive Grand Slam that Ruud has failed to reach the fourth round, since playing in the final of Roland Garros 2023.

In the later matches of the day, Grigor Dimitrov suffered a shock defeat to Nuno Borges, who had beaten Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 3-0 in the previous round. Dimitrov won the first set 7-6, before his Portuguese opponent won the next three sets 6-4, 6-2, 7-6. Other top seeds such as Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev both advanced, after easy wins over Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alex Michelsen.

Vy Anh

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