Alcaraz cruises into 4th round, Azarenka beats Ostapenko

Melbourne (Australia): Carlos Alcaraz cruised into the fourth round of the Australian Open when his opponent, Shang Juncheng, retired early in the third set of their third-round encounter on Saturday.

The No. 2 was leading the 18-year-old 6-1, 6-1, 1-0 when Shang, who had his right thigh heavily strapped from the start, called it a day after just 66 minutes.

“It’s not the way you want to move on,” said the Spaniard, who missed last year’s event through injury himself. “Last year, I was watching the matches from my couch, wishing to be in the second week.

“This is my first time in the second week at the Australian Open and it feels special.”

Alcaraz will play Miomir Kecmanovic, the Serbian who saved a match point as he beat last year’s semifinalist Tommy Paul 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-0.

American Paul led by two sets to one on Margaret Court Arena and had a match point in the fourth-set tie-break but Kecmanovic levelled and then ripped through the deciding set for victory.

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Kecmanovic said of his victory. “I guess it was just supposed to be my day today. I had a bit more luck and I played some fantastic tennis at the end. I’m really happy to be in the fourth round again.

No. 9 Hubert Hurkacz saw off No. 21 Ugo Humbert 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-3 to reach the fourth round for the second year in a row. He will play the wild-card entry from France, Arthur Cazaux, who beat 28th-ranked Tallon Griekspoor 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.

Two-time former champion Victoria Azarenka took out 11th-ranked Jelena Ostapenko 6-1, 7-5 to make the pre-quarterfinals for the seventh time.

“I like a challenge,” the Belarusian said. “I really think you can’t run away, you have to face it. It’s scary, it’s difficult, but it’s something you want to acknowledge and go through.”

Azarenka’s next opponent will be Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska, who equalled her best Grand Slam performance with a 6-2, 2-6 6-1 win over 27th-ranked Emma Navarro.

Yastremska was coming off first-round exits in her previous seven Grand Slam appearances and hadn’t been to the second week of a major since reaching the round of 16 at Wimbledon in 2019.

“I felt pretty nervous,” said Yastremska, who hit 36 winners. “In the second set, I felt a little bit of pain in my neck and thought I might have to crack it but didn’t want to do it

myself.

“I told myself just don’t be too focused on your neck in the third set because it really takes my attention away. I just told myself to enjoy.”

She will next play Oceane Dodin, who beat Clara Burel 6-2, 6-4 in a match between two French women.

Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion and a runner-up at Roland Garros the following year, lost 6-7 (8), 6-1, 6-4 to Anna Kalinskaya in a 2-hour, 45-minute match on Kia Arena.