Sixth seed Casper Ruud was sent spinning out of the Australian Open on Wednesday, as Czech teenager Jakub Mensik pulled off an impressive 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 upset under the lights at Margaret Court Arena.
The rangy 19-year-old, the 2022 boy’s singles finalist at Melbourne Park, sealed the match with a searing forehand winner to oust the three-time grand slam finalist.
Mensik’s victory over a top-10 opponent follows that of Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca, who beat ninth seed Andrey Rublev on Tuesday. This is the first time since Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray at Wimbledon 2006 that two teenagers have defeated top-10 players at the same grand slam.
It is the first time that Mensik has reached the third round at the Australian Open, matching his best grand slam result after reaching the third round of the US Open twice.
As for Norway’s Ruud, he became the fourth top-10 seed to fall at Melbourne Parkthis year following Stefanos Tsitsipas, Rublev andGrigor Dimitrov.
Quick victory
A relentless Carlos Alcaraz charged into the third round with a 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 rout of Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, continuing his domination of left-handers at grand slams.
The third seed from Spain has never lost to a “southpaw” at majors and extended the streak to eight against the outgunned Nishioka in a lightning-quick match lasting just one hour and 21 minutes at Margaret Court Arena.
“I think the less time you spend on the court at grand slams... it’s going to be better, you know?” Alcaraz, who won 32 out of 36 points on his first serve on Wednesday, said. “Physically, I’m feeling great. I just tried to be focused.”
Alcaraz won the first nine games in succession before world No. 65 Nishioka broke through to hold serve, earning a warm ovation from a sympathetic afternoon crowd.
It would prove only a brief interruption to Alcaraz’s momentum, however, as the Spaniard ramped up the aggression to take a two-set lead in43 minutes.
Serving out the second set to love, Alcaraz had won 50 points to Nishioka’s 15.
To his credit, Nishioka dug in for the third set, serving strongly and even out-rallying Alcaraz at times, belatedly giving fans a contest.
Alcaraz closed out the match in style, stepping in to fire a forehand winner after Nishioka barely managed to return serve.
The Spaniard worked on making his serve more potent in the off-season and was thrilled with how it held up against Nishioka. He racked up 14 aces and three double faults without giving Nishioka a single break-point chance.
“I’m really happy with the serve today (Wednesday), it’s something that I worked on,” he said. “Hopefully in the next round it’s going to be better.”
Alcaraz will play Nuno Borges, who won 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 against Australian Jordan Thompson, for a place in the fourth round at Melbourne Park where he reachedthe quarter-finals last year, his best finish yet at thegrand slam.
Winning the title would make him the youngest man to claim the “career Slam”, having already won Wimbledon (twice), the French Open and the US Open.
Zverev on track
World No. 2 Alexander Zverev kept his title charge on track too, with a straight-sets win over Spain’s Pedro Martinez.
The German proved too hot to handle for his fellow 27-year-old, sweeping into the third round 6-1, 6-4, 6-1. He will meet Britain’s Jacob Fearnley who overcame Frenchman Arthur Cazaux in four sets.
“Usually I play 7-6 in the fifth, four-and-a-half hours, but I’m getting older,” Zverev, who is pursuing a maiden major crown, joked afterwards.
Yuki & partner lose
India’s Yuki Bhambri and his French partner Albano Olivetti bowed out of the grand slam after a 2-6, 6-7 loss to local wild cards Tristan Schoolkate and Adam Walton in the opening round of the men’s doubles on Wednesday.
Written with inputs from Reuters & PTI