No. 3 seed Carlos Alcaraz breezed previous Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 in 81 minutes Wednesday to march into the third spherical of the Australian Open.
Alcaraz, winner of final yr’s French Open and Wimbledon, bought off to a blistering begin and by no means regarded again, profitable the primary 9 video games earlier than Nishioka may even get on the board.
It marked the shortest accomplished males’s match at this yr’s match by quarter-hour.
“I believe the much less time you spend on the court docket on the Grand Slams … it may be higher, you realize?” Alcaraz mentioned. “Bodily, I am feeling nice.”
Alcaraz labored on making his serve stronger within the offseason and was thrilled with the way it held up in opposition to Nishioka. He racked up 14 aces and three double-faults with out giving Nishioka a single break level likelihood.
“I am actually proud of the serve at present, it is one thing that I labored on,” he mentioned. “I wasn’t too proud of the serve within the first spherical.”
He gained 32 of 36 first serve factors (89%), his highest share of first serve factors gained in any main match in his profession.
Alcaraz will play the winner of Jordan Thompson and Nuno Borges for a spot within the fourth spherical at Melbourne Park, the place he reached the quarterfinals final yr, his finest end on the Australian Open.
Successful the title would make him the youngest man to finish the profession Slam, having already gained Wimbledon (twice), the French Open and US Open.
Eight gamers have achieved the milestone.
“That is one of many causes I actually need to win this match sooner or later, simply to place my title on that quick listing,” he mentioned. “Hopefully [it’s] this yr.”
In the meantime, on Rod Laver Enviornment, Novak Djokovic was enjoying in his 430th profession Grand Slam singles match, passing Roger Federer for many within the Open Period.
ESPN Analysis and Reuters contributed to this report.