Alcaraz and Federer get into the swing of things at the Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz says he got together with Roger Federer for a round of golf before the Australian Open, and it went just as the 22-year-old Spaniard expected.

Federer’s swing, he said, is “as beautiful as the tennis.”

Advertisement

“Everything he does, he does in style,” Alcaraz said. “He’s been playing for two years now and his level is really, really good.”

“I’ve been playing five and he beat me,” he said, laughing. “It hurts, yeah!”

The topic turned to golf in an on-court TV interview after the top-ranked Alcaraz’s 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2 win over Yannick Hanfmann on Wednesday in the second round of the year’s first major at Melbourne Park.

It was another step closer to his quest to be the youngest player to complete a career Grand Slam in men’s singles — that’s a full collection of the four major tennis trophies.

Advertisement

That’s something Federer, who was back at the Australian Open with his family on a very-much belated farewell tour, had to wait seven years to achieve after winning the first of his 20 major titles.

Alcaraz already has six — two each at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open — and needs the Australian title for the personal Slam. He’s never gone past the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park.

His main rival, Jannik Sinner, has won the last two Australian titles. The pair have split the last eight majors evenly between them in a rivalry now known as Sincaraz.

So it’s little surprise Alcaraz is looking to some of the greats of tennis, like Federer and others, to figure out ways to get ahead.

Advertisement

He has been improving areas of his game, particularly the serve — which now looks very similar to Novak Djokovic’s. So much so that Djokovic, who has won 10 of his 24 majors at Melbourne Park, has noticed.

With Djokovic and No. 2-ranked Sinner on the opposite side of the draw, Alcaraz gets to observe them on his off days at Melbourne Park. And those, for now, don’t involve other sporting distractions.

Moutet ends Zheng’s debut

For Alcaraz, focus will shift to No. 32 Corentin Moutet, who advanced to the third round when American qualifier Michael…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/alcaraz-federer-swing-things-australian-100249866.html

Author : JOHN PYE

Publish date : 2026-01-21 10:02:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.