Australian Open: Berrettini sets Alcaraz clash in R3, Shapovalov survives five-setter

Seventh seed Matteo Berrettini demonstrated his winning mentality on Wednesday as he passed a testing exam to set up a crunch third-round match against Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open.

The Italian, who suffered from stomach problems in the first round, overcame American wild card Stefan Kozlov 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in two hours and 38 minutes to reach the third round in Melbourne for the second time.

Earlier, Alcaraz, who is the youngest Grand Slam seed in more than 30 years continued his explosive start in Melbourne park with a 6-2, 6-1, 7-5 win over Dusan Lajovic to charge into the third round, where he will face seventh seed Matteo Berrettini.

Alcaraz is now one win away from reaching the second week of a major for the second consecutive time, following his run to the US Open quarter-finals last year. He blasted 27 winners to Lajovic's eight and revealed an improving all-court game, winning 22 of 27 net approaches.

At Margaret Court Arena, Denis Shapovalov took the long road into AO third round in a five-set comeback win over South Korea's Soonwoo Kwon. The No. 14 seed had chances to win each of the first three sets but took only one of them before battling to a 7-6(6), 6-7(3), 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-2 win.

With the fourth set knotted a 5-all, Shapovalov strung together consecutive breaks to force a fifth and then edge ahead 3-0 In the decider. He saw that advantage home against the World No. 54, advancing after four hours, 25 minutes.

( With inputs from ANI )

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