Alcaraz Overcomplicates His Australian Open Start But Impresses With Peak Level
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Carlos Alcaraz won his first-round match at the 2025 Australian Open, and even though it could have been easier, he still impressed with his level.
Alcaraz ended his Australian Open preparations with a win. He bested Alexei Popyrin in an exhibition at the Rod Laver Arena, but he didn't get to step on that court for his first-round match.
With the 10-time Australian Open champion, Novak Djokovic, playing at the same time, Alcaraz had to settle for the Margaret Court Arena, which was still packed and excited for the four-time major winner.
His first-round opponent was Alexander Shevchenko, who started his season at the United Cup. He was able to win two matches, but also lose twice, but a win over Stefanos Tsitsipas was certainly confidence-boosting for the Kazakhstani player.
He was able to show that confidence early on in this match. After holding to love in his opening service game, Shevchenko worked his way to a break point in the following. But that was all he could do in the first set.
Alcaraz then won 11 of the next 12 rallies, and suddenly, the scoreboard showed 3-1 for the Spaniard. He then broke his opponent's serve two more times to easily win the first set 6-1.
The ATP World No. 3 was cruising also at the start of the second set. He broke Shevchenko's serve again, leading 3-1 and 30-0 on his serve. But suddenly, he started piling up one mistake after another.
Shevchenko used his chances and not only broke back, but he broke Alcaraz's serve twice to lead 5-3 in the second set. Luckily for the Spaniard, he was able to stop the bleeding, winning four consecutive games to win the second set 7-5.
Those four games were impressive from Alcaraz, as were his first set and his third set. He controlled the proceedings in the third set again, breaking Shevchenko's serve twice to easily win the match 6-1, 7-5, 6-1.
While for the vast majority of the match, Alcaraz was incredibly impressive, he once again had a period that saw him almost lose a set and complicate the match even more.
The takeaway from Alcaraz will be that while his peak level remained incredibly high, he must continue working on his inconsistency, as that could trouble him against higher-ranked opponents.
After the match, former ATP player John Millman, who was conducting the on-court interview, was impressed with Alcaraz's level, asking him what is the secret behind what he's able to produce on the tennis court.
Humbly, the young Spaniard answered that there is no secret behind it, only the hard work that he puts into his craft every day.
"There’s no secret. It’s hard work. I try to be the best of me every day. Every day I wake up I try to be a better person and player. I’m gonna say this."
In the next round, Alcaraz will play against Yoshihito Nishioka, who needed four sets to beat Aziz Dougaz in the first round of the tournament.
