Carlos Alcaraz reached the French Open third round but suffered a worrying loss of form midway through his match against Dutch qualifier Jesper de Jong before winning 6-3 6-4 2-6 6-2.
The third seed was forced to work hard for a two-set lead under the Court Philippe Chatrier roof but 176th-ranked De Jong refused to be intimidated and extended the match as Alcaraz suffered a third-set slump.
An error-strewn Alcaraz continued to struggle as the first four games of the fourth set all went against serve with the 21-year-old becoming increasingly frustrated on court.
The warning signs were there when Alcaraz, once again wearing a support sleeve on his right arm, was broken in his first service game.
He quickly recovered that break and took the first two sets, but the forehand was definitely lacking its usual whip and power.
That was to take nothing away from De Jong, who was playing well above his ranking despite struggling physically himself.
Indeed, Britain’s Jack Draper may feel a little better about his surprise defeat to De Jong in the first round after the 23-year-old broke Alcaraz twice on the way to taking the third set.
But De Jong was visibly tiring in the fourth set despite forcing another early break of serve.
He was unable to hold on to his own serve, sprinkling in too many double faults as Alcaraz got over the line in just over three hours.
“I prefer not to spend too much time on the court, I want to be in good shape for the next round but every match is different,” Alcaraz said.
“It’s good for me to get the rhythm, but I prefer to spend less hours on court.
“Jesper showed that the ranking doesn’t matter. I’m sure that he is going to break the top 100.”
Sinner beats home hero Gasquet
Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner showed his class with a 6-4 6-2 6-4 win over home player Richard Gasquet to book a place in the last 32.
Gasquet, who is another player that could be retiring at the end of this season, went toe to toe with Sinner over the opening six games but Sinner got the decisive break in the eighth game to go 5-3 up after his opponent double-faulted, and went on to win the first set.
That seemed to break the spirit of Gasquet as he was broken at the start of the second and began to struggle on serve as he quickly fell 5-1 down and wasn’t able to fight back as Sinner continued to hold serve.
Jannik Sinner’s best run at the French Open came in 2020 when he reached the quarter-finals
It was a similar story in the third set as Sinner broke Gasquet straight away. This time though, the Frenchman found a break of his own to level things up at 2-2.
However, Sinner stepped his foot on the pedal and went a break up by breaking Gasquet back and had no issues for the remainder of the match as he won in two hours and 15 minutes.
The Italian will face Pavel Kotov in the next round after he saw off three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-5).
“The atmosphere has been amazing. I know you guys were cheering for Richard but it has been a very fair crowd, so thank you for the support,” said Sinner.
“He still gives so much for tennis and it’s so nice to have him around. He’s still playing incredible tennis.
“I felt better than the first match. I keep trying to improve and I know I can improve a couple of things. It’s a very special tournament for me, so hopefully I can show some good tennis.”
Greek star battles into third round
Former French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas survived a mid-match wobble before carving out victory over German Daniel Altmaier 6-3 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
The ninth seed, winner at Monte Carlo last month and a finalist in Barcelona, is one of the title contenders, with clay his favourite surface.
He looked to be cruising to an easy win as he raced through the first two sets in less than an hour before Altmaier upped his game and became more aggressive.
The German refused to buckle in the third set, dominating the tie-break to cut the deficit.
His first break on Tsitsipas’ serve put him 4-3 up when his opponent sunk a backhand smash into the net in the fourth with Altmaier pumping his fists.
But the Greek recovered quickly, breaking straight back and seeing out the match on his opponent’s serve.
“Fighting yourself. This is something that will happen during a match. You have to fight your emotions and feelings,” Tsitsipas said of his loss of concentration.
“The biggest war you have is with yourself. You have to figure that out and get it out of the way. I was down in the score. I didn’t give up. I’ve had plenty of comebacks in the past and I’ve learned from those.
“I remember those and they inspired me to get back into the score and be the type of player I’m looking to be when things aren’t working out so well.”
What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis?
In the run-up to the third Grand Slam of 2024 – Wimbledon – you can watch all of the biggest tennis stars in action live on Sky Sports as they compete across the grass-court season.
- Stuttgart Open (ATP 250 with Andy Murray in action) – June 10-16
- Rosmalen Open (ATP/WTA 250) – June 10-16
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Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
