Australian Open – Alcaraz beats Moutet in straight sets to cruise into round of 16

An ominous Carlos Alcaraz wasted little energy in his 100th Grand Slam match to sweep into the last 16 of the Australian Open on January 23 with a straight-sets mauling of French showman Corentin Moutet.
The 22-year-old six-time major winner was at a different level on Rod Laver Arena to book his passage with a score of 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 in two hours and five minutes.
Victory thrust him into a clash for a place in the quarterfinals with American 19th seed Tommy Paul, who progressed when Spanish opponent Alejandro Davidovich Fokina retired hurt.
Alcaraz has never gone past the last eight in his four previous trips to Melbourne Park, with the Australian Open the only Grand Slam missing from his burgeoning collection.
He will become the youngest man to win all four majors should he push on and make his breakthrough.
“It wasn’t easy. To be honest, when you play someone like Corentin you don’t know what’s going to be next,” said the Spaniard.
“So that’s really difficult, you know, to approach the match. But I had fun on the court. I think we both pulled off great shots, great points.”
The win against Moutet came in his 100th Slam match with Alcaraz having a remarkable 87-13 win-loss record — matching the legendary Bjorn Borg at the same stage of his career.