Carlos Alcaraz dazzled fans at the Australian Open as he progressed to round four with a 6-2 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 defeat of Nuno Borges. (More Tennis News)
Alcaraz had not dropped a set across his ꧑first two matches at Melbourne Park, but the four-time grandꦯ slam winner was made to work by world number 33 Borges on Friday.
However, the Spaniard - who is aiming to become the youngest man to 🐬win the career grand slam - got the job done in a li✨ttle under three hours, pulling out some magnificent shots in the process.
It looked as though it would be a much more routine victory when Alca♈raz won the opening two sets, but Borges fought back in the third, clinching it in a tiebreak.
But the pumped-up Alcaraz regaine💖d control with a🧸 break of serve in the second game of set four, during which Alcaraz pulled off a thumping shot while sprinting back towards the baseline. The 21-year-old soaked in the plaudits from an adoring Melbourne crowd as he stood in celebration.
And though Borges clawed back four break points across his next t♔wo service games, Alcaraz just had too much, with a sloppy effort into the net ending the underdog's stan⭕d.
There was also a victory for secondꦺ seed Alexandꦦer Zverev, who ended Jacob Fearnley's run.
Fearnley beat Nick Kyrgios in the first round and overcame Arthur Cazaux in the second, but 𓂃was no match for Zverev, who wr🐎apped up a 6-3 6-4 6-4 win in two hours and two minutes.
Data Debrief: King Carlos
Alcaraz has become just the fourth man in the Open Era to win 10 singles matches at each of the four majors before turning 22, after Mats Wilander, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
He has now reached the last 16 at a grand slam for the 11th time, which m🐻atches Nadal's effort before he turned 22. Only Boris Becker, Bjorn Borg and Wilander managed more such appearances before turning 22.
Zverev, meanwhile, has now reached the fourth round of a major on 21 occasions, surpassing Milos Raonic (20) for the outright most of any player born since 1🍬990.
