Alcaraz in 3rd round despite a few scares at Roland Garros

Carlos Alcaraz has just qualified for the 3rd round of the 2024 French Open. He dominated Jesper De Jong in 3 sets (6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2) and just over 3 hours of play. As the final scoreline suggests, the Spaniard had a rough time of it, which left him a little worried.

The world no. 3 seemed to be well on the way to victory, having won the first two sets fairly easily (6-3, 6-4). But things got complicated at the start of the 3rd set, with his opponent clearly raising his game, while the Spaniard lost the thread of his tennis and conceded 5 games in a row (2-6).

After a double break exchange at the start of the 4th set, Alcaraz regained control of the proceedings, as the Dutchman began to suffer physically and was no longer able to keep up with the very intense pace of the match.

Alcaraz took the last 4 games of the match in 10 minutes to book his place in the 3rd round. On Friday, if the weather holds out, he will meet Sebastian Korda or Soonwoo Kwon.