Sawt Falasteen - Rocky Balboa inspiring Alcaraz in Australian Open quest

The world number two was put through his paces by Italy's Lorenzo Sonego before prevailing 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) on Rod Laver Arena to make the third round.

Alcaraz said the movie, about a poor, small-time club boxer who gets an unlikely shot at the world heavyweight championship and its music were inspirational.

"Before the match I always listen to 'Eye of the Tiger', 'Heart On Fire'. That kind of music motivates me a lot," he said.

"I'm a huge fan of Rocky Balboa. The songs remind me of the movie, all the training sessions that he had in the movie.

"Yeah, I mean, I think about it when I listen to it, and it motivates me a lot before the matches."

The two-time major champion and second seed is seeking a maiden title in Melbourne and will meet Chinese wildcard Shang Juncheng next.

He took time to find his rhythm against Sonego but pounced in game seven, triggering a baseline error from the Italian to earn a break before closing out the first set.

It was equally tight in the second set, which went to a tie-break. Sonego broke early and held on to level the match.

The setback sparked a new lease of life from Alcaraz, who stepped up a gear to seize back control with some scintillating groundstrokes in the third set before encountering more stiff resistence from Sonego in the fourth.

The again went to a tie-break and Alcaraz once again dug deep to seal the win.

"I'm really happy with my performance today," said the Spaniard, who missed last year's opening Grand Slam of the year with an injury.

"Both of us played such a great level, high intensity. The match was a bit tricky with the wind and sun, tough to play my best.

"Even if I lost the second set, I think I played a good game."

Alcaraz had a stellar 2023, lifting six tour-level trophies.

He also constantly battled for the number one spot with 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and has the opportunity to seize back the top ranking in Melbourne.

F.Qawasmeh--SF-PST