Nishioka: a striking gesture after his first victory over Alcaraz after nine consecutive defeats

Carlos Alcaraz started his second round match at the Australian Open on a high, handing Nishioka a clear defeat with a final score of 6-0, 6-1, 6-4. The Japanese, unconvinced of his chances, could not resist the power of the Spaniard’s blows. In the first set, he only managed to score four points in total and quickly suffered a break at the start of the second set. He then found himself 6-0, 3-0, at which point he finally scored his first point. His reaction was indicative of the difficulties he encountered.

The Japanese player almost begged for the ball to come out during one of his missed backhands, and when he finally saw it go out, a beaming smile appeared on his face. The audience at Margaret Court (once again, Carlos was moved away from center) applauded him, eager to see more tennis. He threw the ball in the air, taking the situation with humor. Later, in the third set, he managed to be a little more competitive, although that was not enough to worry the Spaniard.

Alcaraz’s sixth “rosco” in Grand Slams

This match marks the sixth 6-0 that Alcaraz achieved in his still young career in the final phase of a Grand Slam. He got his first at the 2021 US Open against the German Gentile in the round of 16 (5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 and 6-0). In this same tournament, he also recorded his only “rosco” in this type of competition against Tsitsipas, a memorable match for Carlos since, being very young, his victory against a “top 10” player propelled him to the in front of the stage (6-3, 4-6, 7-6, 0-6 and 7-6). In 2022, during Roland-Garros, it was the Argentinian Londero who had suffered from the enthusiasm of Alcaraz (6-4, 6-2 and 6-0). In 2023, he achieved this twice: in his first match on Parisian clay against Cobolli (6-0, 6-2 and 7-5) and also during his first match at Wimbledon against Chardy (6-0, 6-2 and 7-5), before winning his first title at the All England Club. In 2024, in the round of 16 of the Australian Open, Carlos defeated Kecmanovic with a score of 6-4, 6-4 and 6-0.