In order to defeat the qualifiers, Alcaraz’s color was off.
An unnatural hue To defeat driven qualifier Jesper de Jong and get to the third round of the French Open, Carlos Alcaraz had to put in a lot of effort.
Alcaraz of Spain defeated a player rated 173 places lower, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, at times appearing modest.
Dutchman De Jong performed well above his rating, but Alcaraz struggled, having to come back from breaks twice in the fourth set.
Alcaraz stated, “Every match is different, but I prefer not to spend too much time on the court. I want to be in excellent shape for the next round.”
“I had my share of problems. Jesper and I performed well.”
Alcaraz’s next opponent might be South Korea’s Kwon Soon-woo or American Sebastian Korda.
The 2022 runner-ups, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev, prevailed in their matches, but the weather prevented any action on the outdoor courts.
During the evening session, Jannik Sinner, ranked second, easily defeated Richard Gasquet in straight sets on Roland Garros’s only covered court, Court Phillipe Chatrier.
Conversely, Russian Pavel Kotov defeated Switzerland’s 2015 French Open champion Stan Wawrinka in four sets at Court Suzanne Lenglen.
The convincing first-round victory of third-seeded Alcaraz over fortunate loser JJ Wolf was nearly the exact reverse of this.
The 21-year-old’s lack of match practice was evident, as he still wore a compression sleeve on his right forearm, an ailment that hindered his preparation for Roland Garros.
Alcaraz’s focus seemed to waver after the first two sets, which were somewhat simple. He frequently followed a superb shot with one that went wide or found the net.
He committed 47 unintentional mistakes, the majority of which occurred in the third set as he lost ground quickly to the opposition.
Alcaraz was broken early in the fourth set, again on a long forehand, giving the impression that the match might get much more difficult for him.
He did, however, appear to pick up his game in the following game, as he reached 30-30 on the De Jong serve. His teammates tried their best to uplift him, and Alcaraz appeared more like himself as De Jong sent a forehand into the net.
Once more, the two exchanged breaks, leveling the set at 2-2, but Alcaraz prevailed thanks in part to a fatigued De Jong, who had defeated Jack Draper of Britain in five sets in the opening round.
But Alcaraz will be aware that more difficult challenges are ahead in his quest for a third major championship.
He continued, “It was incredibly important to me to have the enthusiasm from the crowd to forget about the third set and play at my best in the fourth.”
