Preview: Australian Open: Carlos Alcaraz vs. Yannick Hanfmann - prediction, form, head-to-head

Meeting for only the third time on tour, Carlos Alcaraz will take on Yannick Hanfmann in the second round of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Wednesday.

In his opener, Alcaraz ousted Aussie Adam Walton in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, with his upcoming German opponent beating Zachary Svajda 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

Match preview

It was a solid opening for the Spaniard in the first Grand Slam of 2026, with the #1 seed hitting 38 winners over the weekend in a comfortable victory.

While he briefly trailed Walton in the second set on Saturday, Alcaraz quickly turned things around, averaging a speed of 191 km per hour on his first serve.

He fired eight aces in the match, while only registering one double fault to advance beyond the first round for a third successive time in this tournament.

Only once in his career has he exited the second round of this event, when Mikael Ymer upset him in four sets in 2021.

If there is an area that he will want to clean up, it is unforced errors, as he had 38 of them in his opener with Walton only committing 25 throughout that contest.

At the same time, Alcaraz won 40% of his break points and was particularly sharp at the net, winning 20 of 22 points there.

In his first match of the tournament, Yannick Hanfmann showed some real power on serve, hitting 19 aces against his American counterpart while benefiting from his opponent's eight double faults.

His serve reached as fast as 205 km/h, and the German managed to register an impressive 66 winners during the match.

A victory on Wednesday would mark his best performance in the Australian Open singles tournament, with his previous best being a second-round exit in 2022 versus the eventual champion that year, Rafael Nadal.

Four times in his career, Hanfmann has upset a top-10 player on the singles tour, though never in a Grand Slam, on a hard court, or against a #1 seed.

His previous victory over a top-10 player came in 2023 in Spain, when he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece on the grass courts of Mallorca 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

To upset Alcaraz, he will need to be just as impressive in the return game, if not more, than he was in his opener, winning 32 return points against his American opponent.

Tournament so far

Carlos Alcaraz:

First round: vs. Adam Walton 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 6-2

Yannick Hanfmann:

First round: vs. Zachary Svajda 7-5 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

Head To Head

Seville Challenger (2019) - Round of 32: Alcaraz wins 7-6, 7-6

China Open (2023) - Round of 32: Alcaraz wins 6-4, 6-3

When these two first met in 2019, Alcaraz converted five of his seven break point opportunities to compensate for hitting just one ace in that match.

When they met again in Beijing years later, Hanfmann won only 34% of his second serves and made 10 unforced errors, while the Spaniard hit 20 winners altogether.

We say: Alcaraz to win in three sets

Alcaraz looks hungry to win, and if his forehand is anywhere near as strong as we saw in his opening match, Hanfmann will likely make his share of errors.