Australian Open: Alcaraz outmaneuvers Moutet to reach the fourth round

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Carlos Alcaraz pulled off another clinical display of tennis after sweeping Corentin Moutet of France, 6-2, 6-4, 6-1, to punch a fourth-round ticket in the ongoing Australian Open tournament on Jan. 23, 2026, at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

With the victory, Alcaraz extended his perfect streak of not dropping a single set to three straight matches and is aiming to sustain his momentum on Jan. 25, 2026, when he faces Tommy Paul in the next round.

Alcaraz made sure no sloppy starts would dim his Australian Open campaign after kicking off the third-round matchup with a lopsided beating of Moutet.

Unlike his second-round match against German challenger Yannick Hanfmann, where he had to dig deep in the opening set to seal the 1-0 lead with a 7-4 win in the tiebreaker, Alcaraz quickly grabbed a double-break lead against Moutet.

A barrage of forehand down-the-line winners began Alcaraz’s third-round rampage, backstopped by a series of service aces that steered him to a comfortable 4-1 lead.

After a service hold possession from Moutet, Alcaraz officially closed the first-set pathway with a break and a dominant 40-15 hold to move 1-0 ahead.

The second set became a more interesting sight as Moutet finally regained his groundstroke rhythm to provide more fight, but Alcaraz scored a crucial break point to create separation, en route to a 2-0 advantage.

Alcaraz smelled blood in the third and final set and didn’t give any room to breathe for the struggling Moutet as he pummeled his way inside the no-man’s land after dominating the net area.

Too innovative with his offensive approach after salvaging four points that could’ve gone the other way, Alcaraz put the crowd on their feet with his insane shot-making, particularly in the fourth game of the set when Moutet threatened to steal his service possession.

From being down 30-40, Alcaraz sent the early exclamation point with a 3-0 run to grab the set, and ran away with a one-sided 6-1 win to set up the fourth-round showdown with Paul.

Alcaraz wrapped up his third consecutive win with 97 total points won, including 49 on the return, eight break points, and three service aces.

“It wasn’t easy,” Alcaraz said.

“When you play someone like Corentin, you don’t know what’s going to be next. That’s really difficult to approach the match, but I had so much fun with it on the court. I think we both pulled off great shots, great points. I think there were a few highlights in the match. I’m grateful to play this kind of match against him.”