Australian Open: Alcaraz flies into the third round, Medvedev also advances

Milan, 21 Jan. (LaPresse) – Carlos Alcaraz secures his place in the third round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. On the hard courts of Melbourne, the world number one – who reached the quarter-finals last year, defeated by Novak Djokovic – beat 34-year-old German Yannick Hanfmann in three sets, 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-2, in two hours and 46 minutes of play. Daniil Medvedev, three-time finalist at the Australian Slam (2021, 2022, 2024), also advanced to the third round. The Russian struggled through four sets before defeating France’s Quentin Halys 6-7(9), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Among the matches that ended during the night, Russia’s Andrey Rublev defeated Portugal’s Jaime Faria in four sets, the United States’ Tommy Paul defeated Argentina’s Thiago Agustín Tirante in three sets, and Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina closed out his battle against American powerhouse Reilly Opelka in the fifth set after almost four hours.