Carlos Alcaraz recovered from a slow start to reach the third round of the 2026 Australian Open.
The world No. 1 fell behind 1-3 in the first set after Yannick Hanfmann broke his serve. Alcaraz stayed calm, fought back, and won the set in a tiebreak 7-6(4).
After that, Alcaraz took control. He broke Hanfmann in the second set and then again in the third, closing the match 6-3, 6-2.
“I knew he was going to play great, I know his level… to be honest, it was tougher than I thought,” Alcaraz said.
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“I’m really happy that I got through a really difficult first set, then I started to feel a little bit better, tactically I feel I played much better.”
“Every match is different; the style of the players is different. Yannick has a style [of play] that I’m not really comfortable with on the court, so it wasn’t easy today.”
Alcaraz now faces either Michael Zheng or Corentin Moutet in the third round.