Melbourne, Jan 23 (IANS) World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz earned a 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 victory against Corentin Moutet in his 100th Grand Slam match to reach the Australian Open fourth round here on Friday.

With his win, Alcaraz improved to 87-13 at Slam level, tying Bjorn Borg for the best major record in 100 matches. The 22-year-old Spaniard has twice reached the quarterfinals in Melbourne.

The six-time Major winner has also surpassed legends, including Rafael Nadal and fellow ATP No. 1 Club member John McEnroe, who both went 86-14 across their first 100 major matches, as per ATP stats.

Novak Djokovic, a record 24-time major titlist and 10-time champion in Melbourne, went 79-21 across his first 100 Slam matches, while Swiss Roger Federer went 80-20. Alcaraz’s great rival Jannik Sinner played his 100th major match (81-19) last year at Wimbledon, coincidentally against the Spaniard in the championship match. The Italian won that clash, ATP reports.

“It wasn’t easy. When you play someone like Corentin, you don’t know what’s going to be next. That’s really difficult to approach the match, but I had so much fun with it on the court. I think we both pulled off great shots, great points. I think there were a few highlights in the match. I’m grateful to play this kind of match against him,” Alcaraz said.

After leading 3-0 in the second set, Alcaraz dropped four consecutive games, but quickly regrouped and earned a crucial break at 4-4 to serve for a two-sets-to-love lead. He then raced to a double-break lead in the third set and applied the finishing touches to advance after two hours and five minutes.

Alcaraz, who is yet to drop a set, will next play 19th seed Tommy Paul, who advanced after Alejandro Davidovich Fokina retired with the American leading 6-1, 6-1.

At just 22 years old, Alcaraz is a six-time major champion and is chasing more history. Should he claim his maiden Australian Open title, Alcaraz would complete his Career Grand Slam and become the youngest player to achieve that feat.

–IANS

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