It's only the second round, but second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz will make few mistakes against Lorenzo Sonego, the only winner of their previous matchup. The Alcaraz-Sonego match will take place on the fifth day of the tournament at the Rod Laver Arena.

Australia's 9Now service offers free live streaming of the Australian Open, and you can watch the Alcaraz vs. Sonego live stream from anywhere with a VPN.

For Alcaraz, the Australian Open is his last chance to make history as the third man in the Open Era to win three majors by age 21, along with Mats Wilander and Bjorn Borg. But he has never made it past the second round before, and his killer instincts were not on display in his opening match against veteran Richard Gasquet.

Alcaraz failed to convert a break point in the first set, 4/16, but the victory was partly due to the 37-year-old Frenchman's lack of gas and partly due to the 20-year-old's performance level.

Sonego also lacked sharpness in a four-set comeback win over Dan Evans; 23 aces and 68 winners saved the world No. 46 from several pinch points.

Make sure you follow our streaming guide below to watch the Australian Open 2024 matches, including a live stream of Alcaraz vs. Sonego.

If you are lucky enough to live in Australia, you can look forward to a free Alcaraz vs Sonego live stream.

That's because free-to-air Channel Nine and its 9Now streaming service have rights to the action and will be showing wall-to-wall coverage of the tournament.

But what if you normally live in Australia and are not home to watch the Alcaraz vs. Sonego live stream? Maybe you are on vacation and don't want to spend money on a pay-per-view broadcast in another country when you would normally be able to watch it for free at home.

Don't worry - you can watch it via VPN instead. Here's how to do it.

A VPN, or virtual private network, makes it look as if you are surfing the web from your home country instead of the country you are in. That means you can access the streaming services you've already paid for from anywhere on the planet. Or at least, anywhere you have an Internet connection.

For example, Australians who are currently in the US can watch a live stream of Alcaraz vs. Sonego on 9Now without being in Australia.

They are completely legal, inexpensive and easy to use. We have tested many of the best VPN services and our current favorite is ExpressVPN. It's fast, works with a variety of devices, and has a 30-day money back guarantee.

The VPN is incredibly easy to use.

1. install the VPN of your choice. As we have mentioned, ExpressVPN is our favorite.

2. select the location you want to connect to with the VPN app. For example, if you are in the US and want to see Australian service, select Australia from the list.

3. sit back and enjoy the action, access 9Now and watch the tennis.

U.S. tennis fans will need ESPN to watch a live stream of Alcaraz vs. Sonego. The cable brand will broadcast extensively from Melbourne Park on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, and the Tennis Channel.

ESPN is available on most cable packages as well as the best cable TV alternatives such as Sling TV, Fubo, YouTube TV, and Hulu with Live TV.

Of these, our choice would be Sling TV; Sling Orange packages start at just $40 per month and come with over 30 channels, including ESPN.

Fubo, on the other hand, costs $79.99/month for 121 channels and includes ESPN; it has a 7-day free trial;

and the Fubo package starts at $79.99/month and includes ESPN.

And remember, if you are typically based in the US. but you can still use a VPN, such as ExpressVPN, to watch the services you have already subscribed to.

Tennis enthusiasts in the UK can watch a live stream of Alcaraz vs Sonego on Eurosport, available on Sky TV or Discovery Plus.

Eurosport comes with Sky TV packages starting at £26 per month. Subscribers can also stream online via the Eurosport website and the Eurosport app.

If you don't want to shell out for a full Sky subscription, you can also consider the Now Sports streaming service, which is available for 24 hours for £11.98 or a month for £34.99.

On the other hand, if you have a Virgin Media cable subscription, Eurosport is included in your regular subscription.

Alternatively, you can watch Eurosport broadcasts via "Discovery Plus" for £5.99 per month.

Go on vacation; sign up for ExpressVPN or another VPN service to take advantage of the services you already subscribe to.

Canadians can catch all the Australian Open action on TSN (English) or RSN (French) as part of their cable TV package. If you don't have a cable TV subscription, TSN Plus streaming is available starting at $8 CAD per month.

Not at home right now; use ExpressVPN or another VPN service to make your device think you are in Canada.

Australians can watch the Australian Open on Channel Nine and 9Gem. The schedules of both stations are very fluid, so even if a big match like Alcaraz vs. Sonego is not broadcast on TV, it can be streamed live on the on-demand service 9Now. 9Now is free as long as you have an Australian zip code.

Lucky Australian tennis fans can also watch all the courts of the tournament, plus comprehensive coverage of many other sports, ad-free, on Stan Sport's pay-per-view service.

After a 30-day free trial of Stan Sport, a monthly subscription of $10 (added to the $15 Stan subscription) is required.

Australians who are not in Japan can simply sign up for a VPN, such as ExpressVPN, and watch the matches as if they were in Japan.