Alcaraz makes profitable begin in Profession Grand Slam bid at Australian Open

ATP Tour

Alcaraz makes profitable begin in Profession Grand Slam bid at Australian Open

Seeds Bublik, Cerundolo, Norrie & Tiafoe win, Zheng upsets Korda

January 18, 2026

Carlos Alcaraz made a profitable begin in his quest to finish the Profession Grand Slam at this 12 months’s Australian Open, the place he overcame a resilient efficiency from Australian Adam Walton to achieve the second spherical in Melbourne.

Competing for the primary time within the post-Juan Carlos Ferrero period, the World No. 1 moved previous Walton 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-2 within the evening session on Rod Laver Area.

Alcaraz, who ended his seven-year relationship with former coach Ferrero in December, is aiming to turn into simply the sixth man – and youngest – within the Open Period to win all 4 main titles at the least as soon as. The Spaniard was not at his free-flowing finest towards Walton however discovered sufficient consistency when wanted to shake off the World No. 79 within the pair’s second Lexus ATP Head2Head assembly (2-0 Alcaraz).

“I’m actually glad to step onto the court docket as soon as once more for the primary time this season. It couldn’t have been higher, taking part in right here on the Rod Laver Area,” Alcaraz stated. “It was a great match. I felt nice and Adam pulled off some nice pictures, an excellent degree within the match, so I needed to keep there at this sort of degree.”

Alcaraz struck 38 winners and confirmed his preventing qualities within the second set, rallying from 1-3 to stamp additional authority on the conflict. Walton was attempting to advance to the second spherical of his dwelling Slam for the primary time and gave a great account of himself all through the two-hour, 13-minute conflict, troubling Alcaraz at instances together with his deep groundstrokes. Nonetheless, he couldn’t match the Spaniard in the important thing moments.

“It was actually, actually troublesome to search out the nice spots,” Alcaraz added. “It felt he was all the time in a great place. Lengthy rallies. He was stable from the baseline and his flat ball was typically actually troublesome for me. Getting used to the situations and the court docket, but it surely was a extremely stable match.”

Alcaraz, led by coach Samuel Lopez, is chasing his seventh main this fortnight. The Spaniard is a two-time champion at Roland Garros (2024, ’25), Wimbledon (2023, ’24) and the US Open (2022, ’25). The 22-year-old will subsequent meet Yannick Hanfmann after the German beat American qualifier Zachary Svajda 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3).

In different motion, the No. 10 participant within the PIF ATP Rankings Alexander Bublik earned his first win on the Australian Open since 2022. Competing as a High 10 participant for the primary time, the 28-year-old overcame Jenson Brooksby 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to set a second-round conflict with Marton Fucsovics.

American qualifier Michael Zheng earned a dream win on his tour-level debut, upsetting Sebastian Korda 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(0), 6-3. The 21-year-old Zheng, who will subsequent play Corentin Moutet, is at the moment finding out at Columbia College in New York, the place he’s a senior. Study extra in regards to the reigning NCAA males’s singles champion right here.

There have been additionally wins for seeds Cameron Norrie, Francisco Cerundolo and Frances Tiafoe on Day 1. British lefty Norrie defeated Benjamin Bonzi 6-0, 6-7(2), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and has now gained his previous three matches which have gone to 5 units, in response to Infosys ATP Stats. The 18th seed Cerundolo downed Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 7-6(0), 6-3, whereas Tiafoe defeated Australian Jason Kubler 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-2.