Alcaraz survives longest first set of his career at a major to move into Aus Open third round

MELBOURNE — In a bid to complete a career Grand Slam, world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz battled back from a break down in a thrilling  78-minute opening set against Yannick Hanfmann to record his second straight-sets victory at the Australian Open here on Wednesday.

The top seed was put to the test by Hanfmann at Rod Laver Arena before triumphing 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2 in 2 hours and 44 minutes to clinch his second win this year in Melbourne

Alcaraz played the longest first set of his career at the Slams when Hanfmann led 3-1 in the first set and saved two break points at 5-5, later building a 4/3 lead in the tie-break before Alcaraz rattled off four straight points at the Rod Laver Arena. The 34-year-old German was seeking to become the first player outside the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings to defeat Alcaraz at a major.

"Really, really happy that I got through a really difficult first set, and then I started to feel a little bit better on the court with my shots. Tactically I played much, much better, so I’m just happy to have played at a really good level at the end of the match and get through to another round," Alcaraz said.

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After facing three break points in his first two service games, Alcaraz did not allow another break chance until he fought off four in the final game of the match. He hit 11 aces in the victory, including four in a row in his opening service game of the final set, ATP reports.

The 22-year-old is seeking to become the youngest man in history to complete the career Grand Slam in singles and the youngest in the Open Era to win seven major singles titles.

The Spaniard is two wins away from matching his best Australian Open result: quarterfinal runs in each of the past two years. He will next meet qualifier Michael Zheng or 32nd seed Corentin Moutet in the third round.