MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Carlos Alcaraz outclassed Shang Juncheng to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open for the first time on Saturday before the Chinese teenager was forced to retire injured.
The Spanish world No. 2, 20, playing a tour-level match against a player younger than himself for the first time in his career, was leading 6-1, 6-1, 1-0 when his 18-year-old opponent had to pull out.
Alcaraz, who missed last year’s tournament at Melbourne Park with an injury, said it was “not the way anybody wants to move on” after the lopsided contest, which lasted just 66 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
“I missed the tournament last year,” he said. “I was watching the matches at home from the couch, wishing to play in the second week here.”
“This is the first time I have moved to the second week in Australia. It feels special.”
Shang held serve in his first game but Alcaraz won the next six games to take the set, not facing a single break point.
The second set was also one-way traffic, with the Chinese player unable to live with Alcaraz’s power and range of shots.
Shang needed a medical timeout when 4-1 down in the second set, receiving treatment to his upper leg, but lost the next two games to give himself a mountain to climb.
Alcaraz broke for a sixth time in the match at the start of the third set and in the next game Shang decided he could not continue.
The two-time Grand Slam champion next faces Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic, who is ranked 60th in the world and beat 14th seeded American Tommy Paul in five sets.
Meanwhile, Zheng Qinwen admitted that she has watched Chinese great Li Na’s win in the 2014 Australian Open final “10 times” as she moved a step closer to matching her idol’s exploits.
The 21-year-old, known to her fans as “Queen Wen,” battled into the Last 16 with a fighting 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (10/8) victory over compatriot Wang Yafan.
Their match was played on Rod Laver Arena, where Li beat Dominika Cibulkova in 2014 to become the first Asian player to lift the trophy at Melbourne Park.
Zheng has previously credited two-time Grand Slam winner Li for putting “a dream seed in my heart” and she was quick to praise her again after coming through against Wang.
“I was sitting there in front of the TV, watching that (2014 final) from the beginning to the end,” said 12th seed Zheng, who was 11 at the time.
“That final I have watched it more than 10 times, so I have a lot of memories.”
“I mean, she was an unbelievable player, the first Asian woman who won the Grand Slam. How can you not remember that.”
Zheng, China’s brightest young tennis star, has raced through the rankings to be 15 and is looking to build on a breakthrough 2023.
She won her first WTA title at Palermo and followed it up with a second in Zhengzhou at the back end of the season, while making the last eight at the US Open and winning an Asian Games gold medal.
Her next challenge will come from the unseeded Oceane Dodin, who beat fellow Frenchwoman Clara Burel in straight sets.
