The Spaniard has made a strong start in doing just that, as Alcaraz moves closer to a quarter-final with Novak Djokovic.

Despite producing another impressive at the Australian Open, Alcaraz is still yet to play a match on the Rod Laver Arena this year.

Carlos Alcaraz reacts to his Australian Open scheduling

There was a strong reaction when Alcaraz and Djokovic were scheduled at the same time in their first round matches at the Australian Open.

The Australian Open received great criticism for this decision, but elected to repeat it for day four of the tournament with Alcaraz and Djokovic both on second in the day session.

When asked about scheduling at the Australian Open in his press conference, Alcaraz revealed his hope to play on Rod Laver Arena this year, but was more keen to emphasise his desire to play in the day.

“Well, I like playing on Margaret Court Arena. I think it’s a really beautiful court,” said Alcaraz. “Obviously I want to play on Rod Laver, but we have to see the schedule, as well.”

“As I said many times, I don’t like to play night sessions. I prefer to play day session. After the match, I can recover much better. I can go to sleep at a good time. It’s not too late for me. So I prefer to play a day session.

“If I have to play on Margaret Court, which is a really beautiful and great court, I’m going to do it. Obviously center court of the Grand Slams, here in Australia the Rod Laver is one of those courts that you want to play in.”

Carlos Alcaraz labels himself a ‘serve bot’ in social media post

Prior to the Australian Open, Alcaraz was having issues with his serve that he had adapted the technique of during the off-season.

However, serve seemed to be a real weapon for Alcaraz against Nishioka having hit a total of 14 aces.

This is eight more than his first round win in Melbourne, with Alcaraz also winning 89% of his points on first serve.

When reacting to his impressive serving performance, Alcaraz wrote ‘Am I a serve bot?’ on the lense of the camera after the match and used the same line in a social media post.

Alcaraz will be hoping for more strong serving in his third round match at the Australian Open where he will play Portuguese Nuno Borges.

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