If Carlos Alcaraz earns the right to hoist the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup as the Australian Open 2025 men’s singles champion next Sunday, his next tattoo is sorted.
MORE: All the scores from Day 6 at AO 2025
“It’s going to be a kangaroo,” grinned the third seed on Friday after claiming a coveted berth in the round of 16 with a 6-2 6-4 6-7(3) 6-2 defeat over a spirited Nuno Borges on Friday.
Competing at Rod Laver Arena for the first time this year in sunny but gusty conditions, the 21-year-old regularly turned defence into attack, showcasing finesse as he reeled off trademark drop shots that may linger in Borges’ nightmares.
Beyond clocking an average first serve of 193km/h, outpacing his Portuguese rival by 10km/h, Alcaraz also troubled Borges with heavy topspin. This year, the right-hander is striking forehands and backhands between 350 and 400 revolutions per minute faster than the flatter-hitting Borges, in part because he’s added five grams of lead tape to his racquet.
Alcaraz set the tone early, breaking in the opening game of the match and again to seal the first set. Tested in the second by the world No. 33, Alcaraz unleashed a huge forehand to break the stalemate in the ninth game, before closing out the set with an ace.
Still, the donation of an occasional double fault proved that he’s human and not – as he joked earlier this week – a serve bot. Borges had chances to break early in the third, but Alcaraz snuffed out both opportunities with crisp forehand winners.
Undeterred, the top-ranked Portuguese player created another break opportunity to earn a set point at 5-6, but overhit a backhand return. Briefly out of the woods, Alcaraz forced a decisive tiebreak, but after some loose points, gifted the set to Borges with a wide forehand.
Still, the prodigious talent has never lost a Grand Slam match when holding a two-set lead, and had no intention of allowing Borges to snap that streak.
Determined to reassert himself in the fourth, Alcaraz secured an early break by chasing down a lob to crack a forehand winner that caused the crowd to erupt in appreciation.
While Borges saved break points to avoid falling to 0-4 and 1-5 deficits, his accomplished foe’s march to the finish line had an air of inevitability. After almost three hours, the four-time major champion clinched match when a Borges forehand found the net, and released a victorious roar.
Alcaraz, who won an exemplary 84 per cent of first serve points and struck a total of 54 winners, more than triple Borges’ total of 15, said he’s striving to play the type of tennis that both makes him smile on court and entertain fans.
On Friday, he certainly succeeded, and with a complete team in Melbourne thanks to the return of coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz will aim to rinse and repeat.
“I tried [to] show my best tennis here,” said Alcaraz, who said he wanted to get a win at Rod Laver Arena to dull the memory of his prior match on Melbourne Park’s biggest stage, a four set loss to Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals of AO 2024.
“I'm just really happy with my level,” he said, before chiding himself for making avoidable mistakes. “I[‘m] just happy, and have things to improve in approaching the next match.”
Alcaraz, who arranges water bottles with labels facing forward, mirroring a conspicuous habit made recognisable by recently-retired compatriot Rafael Nadal, shared gratitude for the support he receives in Melbourne.
“[It’s] a privilege to feel this love in Australia,” beamed the 21-year-old, who could become the youngest player to complete the career Grand Slam if he triumphs this fortnight.
For now, victory over a top-five opponent remains elusive for Borges, who will be disappointed not to have defended points from a breakthrough run to the fourth round at AO 2024 where he toppled Grigor Dimitrov and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Alcaraz will meet the winner of Friday night’s showdown between 15th seed Jack Draper and Aleksandar Vukic in the last 16.
MORE: AO 2025 men's singles draw
The Spaniard has a 2-1 head-to-head advantage over the Brit and a 1-0 lead over the Australian in main draw matches, though Vukic has bragging rights – he earned a three-set win over the then 17-year-old during 2020 Roland Garros qualifying.