Alcaraz, Sabalenka Qualify For Australian Open Third Round

World number one Carlos Alcaraz booked his place in the Australian Open third round with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 6-2 win over Yannick Hanfmann on Wednesday.

The Spaniard overcame a poor start to advance to the next round with a stunning performance at the Rod Laver Arena.

He relied on his pace and precision to surge to double his advantage in the match before sealing a double break to close out the contest after Hanfmann took a medical break.

Alcaraz admitted that Hanfmann gave him a tough time on the court.

He said: “I knew he was going to play great, I knew his level.

“We came through Challengers together. But it was tougher than I thought at the beginning, I didn’t feel the ball that good.

“The ball was coming as a bomb – forehand, backhand, serves. So I had to be ready for those. Really happy that I got through a difficult first set.

“Felt better with my shots and played much better so happy to have played a really good level at the end of the match and get through to another round.”

Alcaraz will take on Corentin Moutet in the third round on Friday.

Cameron Norrie booked his place in round three with a four-set victory over Emilio Nava.

The British No 2 stormed into a two-set lead and regained control after Nava claimed the third, prevailing 6-1 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 7-6 (7-5) in three hours and 18 minutes.

Daniil Medvedev survived an early ‌scare against Quentin Halys to record a ⁠6-7 (9-11) 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory, sealing his place in the third round.

In the women’s category, World number one, Aryna Sabalenka, produced a stunning performance to beat Bai Zhuoxuan 6-3, 6-1.

She will take Russian-born Anastasia Potapova in the third round.

Third seed Gauff was clinical against Serbia’s Olga Danilovic with a 6-2, 6-2 victory on Margaret Court Arena to set up a third round meeting with Hailey Baptiste.

Emma Raducanu suffered an embarrassing 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 defeat to 55th-ranked Anastasia Potapova to crash out in the second round of the tournament.

The British star admitted that her performance was not good enough while outlining her future plans.

Raducanu said: “I want to be playing a different way, and I think the misalignment with how I’m playing right now and how I want to be playing is something I want to work on,” Raducanu said.

“There are definitely pockets of me playing how I want to play and it comes out in flashes, which is a positive. But it’s not how I want to be consistently every day.

“It’s not going to fall into place straight away, but the more I work on how I want to be playing, it will be more of my identity every time I step onto the court.

“I need to work at that, but it’s not going to happen overnight.”

Raducanu was the first British woman to win a major in singles at the US Open in 2021 since Virginia Wade at the 1977 Wimbledon Championships. She is currently the British No. 1 in women’s singles.