Carlos Alcaraz cruised into the fourth round of the Australian Open when his opponent, Shang Juncheng, retired early in the third set of their third-round encounter on Jaunuary 20.
The No. 2 was leading the 18-year-old 6-1, 6-1, 1-0 when Shang, who had his right thigh heavily strapped from the start, called it a day after just 66 minutes.
“It’s not the way you want to move on,” said the Spaniard, who missed last year’s event through injury himself. “Last year I was watching the matches from my couch, wishing to be in the second week. This is my first time in the second week at the Australian Open and it feels special,” he said.
