Carlos Alcaraz made no secret of his goals for his retooled serve after clubbing 14 aces in a decisive victory at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
At Margaret Court Arena, where he defeated Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the third round, Alcaraz wrote an unusual note on a camera lens. After adjusting his motion during the off-season, the four-time Grand Slam champion has been thinking about serving at Melbourne Park.
Although he had six aces and landed less than 60% of his first serves in his first-round victory over Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko, he was not happy with his performance. The careful Spaniard’s numbers on Wednesday were more promising, as he won 32 out of 36 points (89%) on his first serve and more than doubled the number of aces.
According to Alcaraz, he still needs to make significant progress if he hopes to compete with the best ‘serve bots,’ such as Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and American Reilly Opelka.
After the match, Alcaraz wrote on camera: “Am I a serve bot?”
Fans laughed at Alcaraz signing the camera. One fan wrote: “Drug test coming tomorrow lol.”
Another wrote: “Carlos should ask Reilly Opelka, who made 33 aces today. (but he lost by the way).”
One fan commented: “Great serves, great shots. What a package you are.”
Another weighed in: “Love him!”
Carlos Alcaraz signs the camera after hitting 14 aces today at Australian Open:
“Am I a serve bot?” 😂 pic.twitter.com/VaINiwiYDf
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 15, 2025
Alcaraz at the Australian Open, ranking, and results in 2025
WLWWWWWWWW Currently the world no.3, Carlos has achieved a composed 2-0 match record in 2025. Carlos is now competing at the Australian Open where he toppled the world no.77 Alexander Shevchenko 6-1 7-5 6-1 and the world no.65 Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0 6-1 6-4.
Carlos Alcaraz will square off with the world no.370 Gabi Adrian Boitan in the . They have never played each other so far in top competitions.
Alcaraz won 17 titles in his career: 5 on hard courts, 8 on clay courts, 1 on indoor courts and 3 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
He is also scheduled to play in Rotterdam (ABN AMRO Open). The main draw will start on the 3rd of February.
