Carlos Alcaraz made light work of Corentin Moutet on Friday, celebrating his 100th Grand Slam match with a commanding 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 win at the Australian Open. While Alcaraz’s journey was virtually flawless, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff faced more testing paths to reach the fourth round.
The 22-year-old Spaniard is chasing a maiden Melbourne Park title and a historic milestone as the youngest man to win all four majors. Alcaraz appeared unstoppable in the first week, producing a series of highlight-reel moments, including a remarkable rally against Moutet where he chased a lob with a tweener before threading a passing shot down the line.
Alcaraz crushes Moutet
Moutet, seeded 32nd, is a talented left-hander but was overpowered in Alcaraz’s display of dominance, becoming the 14th lefthander Alcaraz has beaten in an unbeaten run. Despite the lopsided score, Alcaraz admitted that chasing down Moutet’s drop shots was challenging.
“I thought we were in a drop-shot competition — but definitely he won,” he joked after the match.
Sabalenka, one of the favourites for the women’s title, overcame a stern test from 55th-ranked Anastasia Potapova, who represented Austria with distinction on centre court. Potapova held four set points in the second set, but Sabalenka capitalised on her first match point to secure victory.
The win extended Sabalenka’s extraordinary tiebreak streak to 21, including 19 consecutive tiebreak wins last season. “Every ball is important in the tiebreak,” she said. “You cannot lose focus for a second because it goes really quickly. I just take it one point at a time.”
Gauff battles back against Baptiste
American teenager Coco Gauff recovered from losing her first set of the tournament to defeat fellow American Hailey Baptiste 3-6, 6-0, 6-3. Gauff will now progress to face the winner of upcoming matches in the last 16.
Medvedev rallies from two sets down
Three-time men’s finalist Daniil Medvedev also demonstrated resilience, recovering from two sets down to defeat Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 6-7(5), 4-6, 7-5, 6-0, 6-3 at Margaret Court Arena. Medvedev will meet Learner Tien in the next round, seeking revenge after last year’s early exit to the young American.
