Australian Open Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev dominate

(Melbourne) World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, in search of a first title in Melbourne, qualified for the third round by beating the eye-catching German Yannick Hanfmann (102) on Wednesday^e) 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-2.

“I knew he would play very well, I know him from Challenger tournaments. But I didn’t expect it to be so difficult at the beginning,” admitted the Spaniard.

“His bullets came at me like bombs!” », he added, emphasizing with satisfaction that he then knew how to “raise” his own level of play.

Winner of six Grand Slam titles, Alcaraz has never made it past the quarter-finals in Melbourne. He will face Frenchman Corentin Moutet (34) on Friday.^e) or the American Michael Zheng (174^e and from the qualifications) to try to climb into the eighth.

On Wednesday, after a tight first set during which he lost his faceoff once, Alcaraz then no longer had to defend a break point… until the very last game where he found himself trailing 0/40. But Hanfmann was unable to achieve any of these three consecutive break points nor a fourth in the process, and lost on the third match point.

Zverev qualified

World No.3 Alexander Zverev missed a round, but qualified for the third round on Wednesday at the expense of Frenchman Alexandre Müller (52^e).

The finalist of the 2025 edition won 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and will face the Briton Cameron Norrie (27^e) for a place in the round of 16.

Zverev lost a set for the second match in a row, after having already conceded one on Sunday in the first round against the Canadian Gabriel Diallo (41^e).

The 28-year-old from Hamburg joins Carlos Alcaraz, who qualified earlier in the day, in the third round, while awaiting the matches of Jannik Sinner (2^e) and Novak Djokovic (4^e), scheduled for Thursday.

Wednesday against Müller, the start of the match was clearly to the advantage of Zverev, who led 6-3, 3-0.

The Frenchman – who defeated the German in his hometown during their last duel – then responded and won the next five games to win the second set 6-4.

While Zverev broke away at 4-2 in the third act, the match was interrupted for around thirty minutes by rain.

Returning to the court, the German concluded the round without difficulty and dominated the fourth to seal his qualification, despite several calls to the kinesiologist at the end of the match to massage his left ankle.

Medvedev wins

For his part, Quentin Halys, 83^e world, held up well, but did not find the solution against the Russian Daniil Medvedev (12^e) who won 6-7 (9/11), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

The triple finalist in Melbourne (2021, 2022, 2024), beaten last year in the second round, will face the Hungarian Fabian Marozsan (47^e) to try to climb into 8^are of final.

After snatching the first set, Halys made the entry break in the second set and had three balls at 40/0 to lead 3-1.

But instead, the Russian chained five points in a row to get back to 2-2 and dominate the rest of the round. And the game ended with an ace.

Halys therefore does not equal his best Grand Slam result, obtained three times by reaching the third round at Wimbledon (2023, 2024) and Roland-Garros (2025).

“Quentin played very well and I’m happy to have played at a good level to win,” commented Medvedev who believes he is not yet playing as well as in Brisbane where he won before coming to Melbourne where he is “struggling” to adapt to the courts.

“His forehand was very dangerous, even at the end when he was tired. But I dug deep and managed to prevail,” he added.

“It’s been over a year since I last got past the second round of a Grand Slam tournament, so I’m happy,” he added with a laugh.

He indeed played in the quarter-finals of the United States Open in 2024, where he won his only Grand Slam title to date in 2021, before falling in the second round in Melbourne in 2025 then in the first at Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows.

“Above all, I need to rebuild my confidence. If I win five more matches here (and therefore the title, Editor’s note), it will be great. But I will take the matches one after the other,” he concluded.