Carlos Alcaraz surpassed the legendary Novak Djokovic in an elusive list after his 6-4, 6(3)-7, 6-3, 7-6(3) win over Lorenzo Sonego in the second round of the Australian Open 2024 at the Rod Laver Arena on Thursday.
Alcaraz, 20, will now take on Chinese wildcard Shang Juncheng who defeated India’s Sunmit Nagal in another four-set thriller.
This was Alcaraz’s 21st Grand Slam on hardcourts as a U21 player, overtaking Djokovic who won 20 matches in majors in the same category.
The Spaniard is now tied for the first place with former Australian player, Andy Roddick, with 21 wins as a U21 player.
U21 Hard Court wins in Grand Slams
21 — Carlos Alacaraz, Andy Roddick
20 — Novak Djokovic, Lleyton Hewitt and Michael Chang.
Opening up after his second-round win, the Spaniard showed gratitude for his performance and also appreciated his opponent for putting up a great fight.
"I'm really happy with my performance today," said Alcaraz, who missed last year's opening Grand Slam of the year with an injury.
"Both of us played such a great level, high intensity. The match was a bit tricky with the wind and sun, tough to play my best.”
Alcaraz initially struggled to find his rhythm against Sonego, but he seized the opportunity in game seven, capitalising on a baseline error from the Italian to secure a break and subsequently close out the first set.
The second set was equally tight, leading to a tie-break. Sonego managed an early break and maintained his position to level the match.
Facing this setback, Alcaraz rejuvenated his game, elevating his performance to reclaim control with impressive ground strokes in the third set. However, Sonego resiliently resisted in the fourth set.
Once again, the match went to a tie-break, and Alcaraz exhibited resilience to secure the victory.
