Carlos Alcaraz qualified for the round of 16 of the 2024 Australian Open, while the second favorite from Melbourne had a very short match against the surprise Junchen Shang (140th in the world ranking).

Carlos Alcaraz, eighth youngest career opponent

Carlos (20 years old) has already played almost 300 professional matches, but the Iberian met a younger opponent for the first time in his career. Juncheng (18) eliminated Mackenzie McDonald (42 ATP) and Sumit Nagal (137 ATP) in the previous rounds.

In 65 minutes on the court with Alcaraz, Shan made only 3 winning shots and committed 25 unforced errors. The athlete from China was injured and lost 6-1, 6-1, 1-0 in favor of the Iberian.

At the end of the match, Alcaraz wrote a message on the camera to the opponent: “We will play again! Be strong! I wish you a speedy recovery.”

Know:

• Carlos will battle for a place in the quarters with Miomir Kecsmanovic (60 ATP), after the Serb eliminated American Tommy Paul (14th seed), 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6(7). 6-0. The Serb saved two match points in the tie-break of the fourth set.

• Alcaraz improved on her best result at the Australian Open. In 2022, the Spaniard reached the third round.

• Carlos Alcaraz has won two Grand Slam titles so far: US Open 2022 and Wimbledon 2023.

Summary of the match between Carlos Alcaraz and Junchen Shang:

Video source: Eurosport

Australian Open 2024 will be held from January 14 to 28. The reigning champions are Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenko.