Carlos Alcaraz waltzed through his second round match at the Australian Open, taking only an hour and 22 minutes as he brushed past Japanese opponent Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0 6-1 6-4 in a comfortable and dominant performance on Margaret Court Arena.
A clinical match saw Alcaraz pound 36 winners as well as 14 aces. That service number stands as his third-most aces in a single match in his professional career, but the most he has delivered in a straight-sets match.
This feat led the Spaniard to joke after the conclusion and while signing the camera lens as is tradition in tennis: “Am I a servebot?”, referencing the term used for players whose serve is their primary weapon.
Alcaraz has in the past served 30 aces against Jan-Lennard Struff at Wimbledon, and 17 aces against Frances Tiafoe at the US Open. However, both those occasions saw Alcaraz stretched to five sets, allowing for the greater numbers.
Alcaraz possessed an ace percentage of 23.1% against Nishioka, by far the most in a single match in his grand slam career, and well above his career average of 4.5%.
Alcaraz on the way to career grand slam with re-tooled serve?
His service has been the one element that is yet to catch up with the excellence of the rest of his game, with the serve being a potent weapon for the likes of rivals Jannik Sinner, Taylor Fritz, and Alexander Zverev.
Alcaraz has enjoyed success at the top level despite not being able to rely on too many free points from his serve, but that has been a criticism of his game, and such a performance will be a good sign for the young Spaniard.
Alcaraz improved his grand slam record against left-handed opponents to 8-0 with this win over Nishioka, who took until it was already 6-0 3-0 to register a first game on the scoreboard. Nishioka did battle back in the third set to leave with some credit, but it was a relative walk in the park for Alcaraz.
The Spaniard is going for a maiden Australian Open win to complete a career grand slam by winning all four major titles, and become the youngest male player to ever do so.
Alcaraz has only dropped 12 games in 6 straightforward sets at the tournament so far, and will now face a third round matchup against Nuno Borges of Portugal.
