Alcaraz, Sabalenka, and Gauff Advance to Australian Open Third Round

Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz and Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday. Alcaraz defeated Yannick Hanfmann of Germany 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena. He will face either Corentin Moutet or Michael Zheng in his next match.

Alcaraz described the match as “tougher than I thought at the beginning,” stating that he did not feel the ball well and had to deal with a series of strong forehand and backhand shots from Hanfmann. The 22-year-old Alcaraz is seeking to complete a career Grand Slam, which would make him the youngest man to achieve this feat.

Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev also progressed to the third round, defeating Quentin Halys of France 6-7 (9/11), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Medvedev will face Fabian Marozsan of Hungary in his next match.

Aryna Sabalenka, the world number one, defeated qualifier Bai Zhuoxuan of China 5-0 before wobbling to give her opponent a chance to stay in the match. However, she quickly regained control and won the match 6-3, 6-1. Sabalenka will face Anastasia Potapova of Austria next.

American tennis player Coco Gauff also advanced to the third round, defeating Olga Danilovic of Serbia 6-2, 6-2 on Margaret Court Arena. She will face Hailey Baptiste in her next match.

Other players who safely navigated the second round include Tommy Paul, Francisco Cerundolo, Tomas Etcheverry, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and Andrey Rublev.

Source: Al Jazeera