Melbourne: Carlos Alcaraz produced a light-hearted moment after his triumph in the second round of the Australian Open on Wednesday. Alcaraz carved out a dominating performance against Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan to secure a win by 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 to sail into the next round.
Alcaraz dominated the southpaw right from the start and won nine points in a row before opponents bagged the first point. But, that was just a brief break in the dominating run of the Spanish star and he took a 2-0 lead in just a span of 43 minutes. The Japanese star showed some fight in the third set beating Alcaraz in some of his rallies, but the World No. 3 broke his serve in the fifth game and closed out the match.
Carlos Alcaraz signs the camera after hitting 14 aces today at Australian Open:
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 15, 2025
“Am I a serve bot?” 😂 pic.twitter.com/VaINiwiYDf
After the conclusion of the fixture, Alcaraz signed on camera lens which is a tradition in Tennis. While signing he wrote “Am I a serve bot?”, referencing the term used for players whose serve is their primary weapon.
In a clinical display, the Spaniard smashed 36 winners and hit 14 aces to trouble his opponent. The number of aces are third-most in a single match in his professional career. Also, it is the most number of aces he has delivered in a straight-sets match.
Alcaraz also expressed his joy over the improved quality of his service saying he has working on it off-season.
"I'm really happy with the serve today, it's something that I worked on," he said.
“I wasn't too happy with the serve in the first round. I'm just glad it works (now), pretty, pretty well. Hopefully, in the next round, it's going to be better."
Alcaraz will be up against Nuno Borges in the third round of the Australian Open on January 17.
