Alcaraz and Federer get into the swing of things at the Australian Open

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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz says he got together with Roger Federer for a round of golf before the Australian Open, and it went just as the 22-year-old Spaniard expected.

Federer's swing, he said, is “as beautiful as the tennis.”

“Everything he does, he does in style,” Alcaraz said. “He’s been playing for two years now and his level is really, really good.”

“I’ve been playing five and he beat me,” he said, laughing. “It hurts, yeah!”

The topic turned to golf in an on-court TV interview after the top-ranked Alcaraz's 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2 win over Yannick Hanfmann on Wednesday in the second round of the year's first major at Melbourne Park.

It was another step closer to his quest to be the youngest player to complete a career Grand Slam in men's singles — that's a full collection of the four major tennis trophies.

That's something Federer, who was back at the Australian Open with his family on a very-much belated farewell tour, had to wait seven years to achieve after winning the first of his 20 major titles.

Alcaraz already has six — two each at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open — and needs the Australian title for the personal Slam. He's never gone past the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park.

His main rival, Jannik Sinner, has won the last two Australian titles. The pair have split the last eight majors evenly between them in a rivalry now known as Sincaraz.

So it's little surprise Alcaraz is looking to some of the greats of tennis, like Federer and others, to figure out ways to get ahead.

He has been improving areas of his game, particularly the serve — which now looks very similar to Novak Djokovic's. So much so that Djokovic, who has won 10 of his 24 majors at Melbourne Park, has noticed.

With Djokovic and No. 2-ranked Sinner on the opposite side of the draw, Alcaraz gets to observe them on his off days at Melbourne Park. And those, for now, don't involve other sporting distractions.

For Alcaraz, focus will shift to No. 32 Corentin Moutet, who advanced to the third round when American qualifier Michael Zheng retired from their second-round match on Court 6 with an adductor strain. Moutet was leading 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, 2-0.

Zheng, a tennis star at Columbia, said the step up to best-of-five set matches and the rigors of qualifying and entering a Grand Slam main draw for the first time had taken a toll.

The 21-year-old Zheng, who won the NCAA individual championship in 2024 and '25, beat fellow American Sebastian Korda in five sets Sunday for his first tour-level win.

He said there was plenty to be proud of in his Australian Open debut.

“Qualifying for the first time, making the first round, and in a tough match, too, saving a match point,” Zheng said. “Winning the first round was amazing against a former top-20 player.”

The one regret was the missed chance to take on Alcaraz, who finished his match on Rod Laver Arena about the time Zheng was leading the first set against Moutet.

“When the draw came out, you know, you saw Alcaraz. You’re in that section,” he said. “Of course, it’s always in the back of the mind, you get the chance to play the No. 1 player in the world, it doesn’t happen very often. He’s someone who is going to go down as a legend in the sport.

“Definitely unfortunate, but hopefully I’ll get the opportunity in the future.”

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