Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the Australian Open for the first time after opponent Shang Juncheng retired with injury in the third set.
Remarkably, this was 20-year-old Alcaraz’s first experience of playing a younger player in his 201st tour level match, but it was barely a contest, the second seed dropping just two games before Shang called it a day trailing 6-1 6-1 1-0.
The 18-year-old Chinese wild card began the match with heavy strapping on his right thigh and took a medical timeout in the second set.
Alcaraz was forced to miss the tournament last year with a leg injury, and he said: “I was watching the matches at home from the couch, wishing to play in the second week here.
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