Carlos Alcaraz dominates to reach the Australian Open fourth round while Aryna Sabalenka survives a tough test, admitting she was emotionally all over the place.
MELBOURNE: Carlos Alcaraz stepped up his quest for a maiden Australian Open title with a commanding 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Corentin Moutet on Friday.
The top-seeded Spaniard required just over two hours on Rod Laver Arena to book his place in the last 16.
“It wasn’t easy. To be honest, when you play someone like Corentin you don’t know what’s going to be next,” said Alcaraz.
The win marked his 100th Grand Slam match, boasting a career record of 87-13.
He will next face American 19th seed Tommy Paul for a quarter-final spot.
Women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka had a far more difficult path, edging past Anastasia Potapova 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (9/7) in a nervy two-hour battle.
The defending champion admitted she struggled emotionally during the match.
“I was always on the back foot, one of those days you have to fight to try and get the ball back,” said Sabalenka.
“Emotionally I was all over the place.”
The Belarusian will face Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko in the next round.
In other action, Daniil Medvedev staged a remarkable comeback from two sets down to defeat Fabian Marozsan.
The Russian 11th seed triumphed 6-7 (5/7), 4-6, 7-5, 6-0, 6-3 in a match lasting three hours and 43 minutes.
Medvedev now faces a last-16 rematch with American Learner Tien, who stunned him in a five-set epic last year.
Third seeds Coco Gauff and Alexander Zverev were scheduled to play their third-round matches later on Friday.