Novak Djokovic added yet another record to his lengthy list Wednesday at the Australian Open, while Carlos Alcaraz also marched on.
Djokovic passed Roger Federer for the most singles major matches played in the Open era by reaching 430 in a tougher-than-expected second-round victory.
Djokovic improved to 379-51 for his career at major tournaments, a .881 winning percentage, by defeating 21-year-old Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2 in a match briefly interrupted by light rain before Rod Laver Arena's retractable roof was shut.
"Grand Slams, of course, they are the pillars of our sport. They mean everything for the history of the sport. ... Definitely the most important tournaments," Djokovic said. "I'm just blessed to be making another record, I guess, today."
Djokovic has won the most Grand Slam singles titles of any man, 24, ahead of Rafael Nadal's 22 and Federer's 20. The 37-year-old Serb has spent more weeks at No. 1 in the rankings than any other player. He's played in 37 Slam finals, six more than Federer's old record. And more could await.
A title at the end of the 15 days at Melbourne Park would be his 25th at a major, a number never reached by any man or woman. It would also be his 11th at the Australian Open, equaling Margaret Court for the most. It would make him the oldest man in the Open era -- which began in 1968 -- to collect a Grand Slam singles trophy (Ken Rosewall was about six months younger when he won the 1972 Australian Open). And it would be Djokovic's 100th tour-level tournament title, a nice round number behind only Jimmy Connors' 109 and Federer's 103 in the Open era among men.
Not everything has gone perfectly this week in Australia for Djokovic in his first tournament working with former on-court rival Andy Murray as his coach. Both of Djokovic's matches so far came against a young player making his Grand Slam debut. And both times, he was pushed to four sets.
In the first round, it was against Nishesh Basavareddy, a 19-year-old American who turned pro only last month and is ranked 107th. In the second, it was Faria, who is ranked 125th, giving him a bit of a hard time, especially during a four-game run in the second set.
"He was playing lights-out tennis. ... I had to weather the storm," Djokovic said. "I think I responded very well in the third and, particularly fourth, (sets)."
Meanwhile, No. 3 seed Carlos Alcaraz breezed past Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 in 81 minutes to reach the third round.
Alcaraz, winner of last year's French Open and Wimbledon, got off to a blistering start and never looked back, winning the first nine games before Nishioka could even get on the board.
It marked the shortest completed men's match at this year's tournament by 15 minutes.
"The less time you spend on the court in the Grand Slams, especially at the beginning of the tournament, it's gonna be better, especially physically," Alcaraz said. "I just try to be focused on spending as less time as I can," on court.
Alcaraz worked on making his serve more potent in the offseason and was thrilled with how it held up against Nishioka. He racked up 14 aces and three double-faults without giving Nishioka a single break point chance.
"I'm really happy with the serve today, it's something that I worked on," he said. "I wasn't too happy with the serve in the first round."
He won 32 of 36 first serve points (89%), his highest percentage of first serve points won in any major match in his career.
Alcaraz will play unseeded Nuno Borges -- who knocked out Australian 27th seed Jordan Thompson 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 -- for a place in the fourth round at Melbourne Park, where he reached the quarterfinals last year, his best finish at the major.
Winning the title would make him the youngest man to complete the career Slam, having already won Wimbledon (twice), the French Open and US Open.
Eight players have achieved the milestone.
"That's one of the reasons I really want to win this tournament one day, just to put my name on that short list," he said. "Hopefully [it's] this year."
ESPN Research, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.