Alcaraz battles past Hanfmann, Medvedev a man on a mission

Melbourne: Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, two of the top three women’s seeds at the Australian Open, both reached the third round on Wednesday.

And the top-seeded man, Carlos Alcaraz, joined them.

Top-seeded Sabalenka defeated Bai Zhouxuan of China 6-3 6-1 at Rod Laver Arena, and No. 3 Gauff won over left-hander Olga Danilovic 6-2 6-2 at Margaret Court Arena.

Alcaraz defeated Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann in a tough match for the Spaniard, who prevailed 7-6(4) 6-3 6-2. “I knew he (Hanfmann) was going to play great,” Alcaraz said. “I knew his level. We’d played a few times already. But to be honest, it was tougher than I thought.”

After the season he’s coming off, 2021 U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev is celebrating his run to the third round at the Australian Open as positive progress.

Positive Medvedev

His results in Grand Slam events in 2025 — losing in the first round at the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open after a second-round exit in Australia, after smashing a tiny camera attached to the net while avoiding a monumental upset in the first — were his worst since his debut season in 2017.

He lost his cool in New York and was fined $42,500 by the U.S. Open — more than a third of his $110,000 tournament prize money — for his meltdown during a first-round loss after a photographer wandered onto the court during the match. He won a single title in 2025 — at Almaty, Kazakhstan in October — from 24 tournaments contested, and only reached one other final. He has 22 career titles.

Nothing much was working for the three-time Australian Open runner-up.

So after he dropped the first set Wednesday against French qualifier Quentin Halys in the second round, he had to mentality set it aside and start all over again. “Performance could be better I think, but a win is a win,” he said. “Last year on Slams, when people played good against me, I was struggling. So I’m happy that I managed to win it,

turning it around.”