Carlos Alcaraz is slowly but surely picking up the pace for the 2026 Australian Open. The 22-year-old started out flat and inconsistent at times, but eventually was good enough to beat Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-2 on a sunny Rod Laver Arena.
Alcaraz has been better at every passing plate for the six-time major champion, who had not played any tournament before arriving in Australia.
In the tie-break of the first set, both sides were close to winning and losing, and Hanfman served to chase the score to 4-3. Alcaraz dug deep and pushed the game forward, taking advantage of the German’s mistakes to take the lead. In the next point, he hit a beautiful backhand to the baseline that caught Hanfmann off guard and won two set points.
Serving out the match forced another Hanfman error, and Alcaraz finally won the set from a break in a hard-fought 78 minutes, the longest first set of any major match Alcaraz has played in his career to date.
The second set wasn’t exactly a tug-of-war. Sensing an opportunity to extend his lead, Alcaraz quickly broke serve to take the lead and never relinquished his advantage.
With Hanfman suffering from oblique/abdominal issues, the game now falls to Alcaraz.
He broke serve again in the third game of the third set and held serve the rest of the way, capping off his 13th career Australian Open victory and setting up a third-round showdown with either Corentin Moutei or Michael Cheng.
The Spaniard came out strong in the third set, turning Hanfmann’s 13 winners into six, including six aces. He finished the match with 41 winners, 11 aces and 30 unforced errors in 2 hours and 44 minutes.
86. Counting
Alcaraz, who is trying to become the youngest person in history to complete a career Grand Slam and the youngest person to win a seventh Grand Slam title, is also closing in on another record.
Alcaraz won 86 Grand Slam matches before turning 23 and currently ranks fourth on the men’s singles Grand Slam match win list.
If he wins the title, he will join Boris Becker at the top of the list. Alcaraz will turn 23 on May 5, ahead of the French Open.
Most Grand Slam tournament wins before age 23
- Becker, 91
- Nadal, 90
- Borg, 88
- Alcaraz, 86
