Alcaraz and Badosa advance steadily to the round of 16 of the Australian Open

The two main Spanish assets, Carlos Alcaraz and Paula Badosa, are advancing steadily in the first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open, in which they have reached the round of 16. The Murcian got rid of the Portuguese Nuno Borges, 27 years old, 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3) and 6-2, in almost three hours, and the Catalan beat Marta Kostyuk, 22 years old and number 18 in the world, 6-4, 4-6 and 6-3 in two and a half hours.

The Murcian

Alcaraz, who lost his first set against the rocky Portuguese, says that if he wins the Australian Open he will get a kangaroo tattoo

In the round of 16, Alcaraz will face the British left-hander Jack Draper, 15th seed, or the local Aleksandar Vukic.

“I’ve missed Rod Laver Arena. It has been a pleasure as always when I step on this track, it is beautiful. “Last time I lost, I wanted to play and get another victory,” he commented for the first time this year before the audience at the tournament’s main stadium, after he played his first two matches at the Margaret Court Arena.

“It’s going to be a kangaroo, that’s for sure. It will be a kangaroo, that’s my idea,” he revealed about what would be his new tattoo if he were to become champion in Melbourne Park, after scoring a new victory after two hours and 55 minutes of intense fighting.

Alcaraz, rested due to the short time he was on the track in his previous clash against the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka, jumped for the first time in 2025 on a majestic Rod Laver that prevented the furious wind, the protagonist on the outside courts, from sneaking in and hindering the duel Iberian between Portuguese and Spanish. It was the second time they met, after that peaceful 6-1, 6-1 victory by Alcaraz in Barcelona in 2023.

The orderly game of Borges, installed on the back line, took a while to find the formula against a tempestuous Alcaraz, who started with an early break to lead a first set that would close with a comfortable 6-2, after signing a new ‘break’ in the final stretch.

The tie was established on the scoreboard of a second set in which the player from El Palmar improved his first-round percentage from 55% to 69%. He managed to score the only ‘break’ with 5-4 in his favor to put the ground in between, with an advantage of two sets to zero.

He was also unable to win on the scoreboard of a third set that would end up being decided in the tiebreaker game and a disgruntled Alcaraz verbalized his anger at the change of court with the unfavorable 5-6. He was about to pay dearly for his anger and subsequent lack of concentration, after the Portuguese wasted a set point to the rest with a second serve. He did not forgive in a tie-break that he sealed after scoring the third set point.

The Murcian channeled the frustration and transformed it into good tennis that had a consistent Borges on the ropes, and expressed the difficulties he went through during the clash with the thunderous roar he emitted when he took the first match ball that he had available to the player. rest. He finished the match with 61% success with first and 84% points obtained with this service, as well as with 54 winners and 50 unforced errors.

It is the second time that Alcaraz will play in the round of 16 at Melbourne Park. The first time took place in the last edition, in which he fell in the quarterfinals against the German Alexander Zverev, second favorite.

He also became the thirteenth Spaniard to reach the fourth round on different occasions. He thus gained access to the select group made up of his compatriots Rafael Nadal (15), David Ferrer (9), Roberto Bautista and Tommy Robredo (5), Nicolás Almagro (4), Pablo Carreño, Juan Carlos and Fernando Verdasco (3), Carlos Moyá and Manuel Orantes (2).

He equaled Emilio Sánchez with eleven appearances in the round of 16 of a slam and placed himself in tenth place among Spaniards with the most appearances in a fourth round of major competition. Nadal also leads this list with 54 appearances beyond the third round.

Paula Badosa

For the second time in her career, the Catalan places among the top 16 in the Melbourne tournament

Paula Badosa (11th seed) won a heart-stopping two-and-a-half-hour duel against the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, world number 17, to reach the round of 16.

“The conditions were very tough with the wind, my first two matches were very different on the indoor court. I think (Stefanos Tsitsipas) was more nervous than me, he gave me some very good advice,” commented the Catalan, who is among the top 16 of the Australian grand slam for the second time in her career.

She will face the winner of the duel between the American Jessica Pegula and the Serbian Olga Danilovic in the round of 16.

The temperance of a reborn Badosa finally prevailed, who will have the chance to get back into the top-10 in this tournament, against an exasperated Kostyuk, who is a close friend on the circuit.

The Ukrainian started the duel with strong attacks that made her take the lead on the scoreboard with an early break. However, Badosa did not lose his nerve and came back from a first set that ended up winning 6-4, after connecting two breaks in extremis.

In the second set, Kostyuk led 5-0. The comeback came close to Badosa, who connected four consecutive games to put fear into the body of an agitated Kostyuk (5-4).

In the third and final set, Badosa kept her first two serves and broke at her first opportunity to finish psychologically destroying her rival and friend, who ended up crying and airily transmitting her discomfort to her team.

The 22-year-old Kostyuk managed to settle, but the initial disadvantage would be enough for the New York-born Catalan from Begur to qualify for the second time in her career to the round of 16 on the banks of the Yarra.

In 2021, Badosa also beat the Ukrainian Kostyuk in the third round and fell severely to the American Madison Keys 6-3 and 6-1.