Alcaraz In Splits At Fan's "Carlos Nadal" Quip In Australian Open

Six-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz was put through his paces by German journeyman Yannick Hanfmann on Wednesday before swatting him aside to book his place in the Australian Open third round. After overcoming a shaky strart in the set, Alcaraz truly made his sporting prowess count, winning the contest in straight sets. The 22-year-old Spaniard came through the arm-wrestle 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena to set up a clash with France's Corentin Moutet or American student Michael Zheng. As Alcaraz chases his maiden Career Grand Slam in Melbourne, comparisons with fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal are bound to come. 

In fact, during the match on Wednesday, Alcaraz was called "Carlos Nadal" by a fan in the arena. The quip left the Spaniard in splits. Here's the video:

"CARLOS NADAL!"

Carlos Alcaraz couldn't hold back his laughter when this fan shouted out pic.twitter.com/r81MGJCGu8

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2026

"I knew he was going to play great. I mean, I know his level, I played him a few times already," said the world number one, who is bidding to become the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam of all four majors.

So far, the Melbourne Park hard courts have proved his nemesis, failing to go past the quarter-finals in his four trips to Australia.

He crashed at that stage last year to Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev the year before.

"To be honest, it was tougher than I thought at the beginning. I didn't feel the ball that good. You know, the ball was coming as a bomb, forehand and backhand," he added.

"Really, really happy that I got through a really difficult first set and then I started to feel a little bit better on the court."

The turning point came when Hanfmann netted a forehand on serve to give Alcaraz a 5-4 advantage and the Spaniard served to seal a marathon set that spanned 78 minutes.

The reigning French Open and US Open champion reset and quickly took a grip on set two as he began to find his rhythm, rattling through it in just 43 minutes.

Hanfmann was spent and needed a medical timeout for work on his left shoulder at the break.

He gamely carried on but Alcaraz, who won a Tour-leading eight titles last season, scored a break to move 3-1 clear and made no mistakes as he sprinted to the finish line.

With AFP Inputs