Very shortly after Rafa Nadal got into the third round of the Australian Open at the Rod Laver Arena, Carlos Alcaraz did the same, but in the 1573, much less sheltered from the strong wind that hit Melbourne on Wednesday. Against that inclemency and against Dusan Lajovic, the Murcian won in three sets (6-2, 6-1 and 7-5 in 1h56). The boy absorbed the gale to dump it on a rival who had a hard time getting his blows to the other side of the net, while in front, Alcaraz returned them like a hammer. He is the youngest (18 years and 270 days) who reaches the third round of the first Grand Slam of the year since the local Bernard Tomic (18 and 101) in 2011. He will face the Italian Matteo Berrettini, whom he won not long ago in Vienna.
Charly bordered on perfection with his service in terms of his way of defending it. He only faced one break point, although he lost it. Nothing more. In addition, he executed three times more winning shots than the 31-year-old Serbian and 39th in the world (27-8). And watch out for his behavior on the net (22/27). Fantastic.
In that red sleeveless shirt that reveals his beefy arms, Alcaraz carries himself regally and rarely gets into long exchanges that don’t interest him. Shorten the points. Of the 100 he won, only 16 were in rallies of nine or more shots. Before Tabilo, in his premiere, the matter was even more exaggerated. Everything was played between zero and four, and the average was 2.13. This takes time away from your opponents, who can hardly think, looking for solutions. That is why, among other things, the boy already commands respect.
Australian Open Men’s Draw.