Carlos Alcaraz comfortably reached the Australian Open fourth spherical for the primary time after opponent Shang Juncheng of China retired with harm.
The Spanish second seed led 6-1 6-1 1-0 when his 18-year-old opponent, who had taken a medical timeout for therapy on his proper thigh, ended the match.
It was the primary time 20-year-old Alcaraz had performed an opponent youthful than him at tour stage.
“It isn’t the best way anyone needs to maneuver on,” Alcaraz stated.
Wimbledon champion Alcaraz has now reached the fourth spherical of all 4 majors.
He missed final yr’s Australian Open with a leg harm however is likely one of the favourites this yr to problem Novak Djokovic for the title.
“I missed the match final yr,” he stated. “I used to be watching the matches at residence from the sofa, wishing to play within the second week right here. It feels particular.”
His encounter with Shang on Rod Laver Area lasted simply 66 minutes, with the Chinese language participant visibly hampered in his motion.
Alcaraz will face Miomir Kecmanovic for a spot within the quarter-finals after the Serb saved two match factors to beat 14th seed Tommy Paul 6-4 3-6 2-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-0.
French wildcard Arthur Cazaux, the world quantity 122 who knocked out eighth seed Holger Rune within the second spherical on Thursday, has additionally eradicated Dutch thirtieth seed Tallon Griekspoor with a dominant 6-3 6-3 6-1 victory.
Cazaux, 21, will tackle Pole Hubert Hurkacz after the ninth seed got here from a set all the way down to win 3-6 6-1 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in opposition to France’s Ugo Humbert.