Roland Garros 2024 Men’s Day 4

Carlos Alcaraz would have preferred to have kept it short and sweet, but was forced to fight for more than three hours to overcome determined Dutchman Jesper De Jong 6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 on a rainy Wednesday at the French Open.

The Spanish third seed was tested as he lost the fourth set to the 176th-rnaked qualifier before finally regaining control in the fourth set to run out the second-round win.

“I was happy to win in the end, but I prefer not to spend too much time on court,” Alcaraz said as he competes in a tournament for the first time in a month after healing a right forearm injury.

“I want to be in good shape for the next round. Every match is different. At least over three hours I was able to get my rhythm.”

Alcaraz ended with 35 winners but 47 unforced errors in a less-than-spectacular contest.

The seed said that his opponent’s modest ranking did nothing to make the win any easier.

“Any player at this level can put you in trouble, no matter if you are at the top and he is out of the Top 100.. 

“Ranking does not matter. In the third set I knew I had to try and stay in the long rallies. But it was not easy to do that, I was in trouble a little bit and he played (that set) better than me.”

Sixth-seeded Madrid champion Andrey Rublev maintained his career-long dominance of Spanish opponents on clay with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Pedro Martinez.

Rublev has never lost in 14 dirt matches against Iberians  .

Stefanos Tsitsipas trailed in the fourth set but broke Daniel Altmair twice to wrap up a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-4 victory and book a place in the third round.

The ninth-seeded Greek went through in two and three-quarter hours as he faced off against an opponent who plays the same one-handed backhand as himself.

“I played marvellous tennis to the end, I enjoyed it,” the winner said. “Facing a one -hander is like getting a taste of my own tennis.

“I was down in the score but I came back; my tennis was working.”

Tsitsipas, who won Monte Carlo for the second straight year and played the Barcelona final against Casper Ruud, said that his match was also an internal battle.

“The biggest war is the one you have with yourself. You have to fight your emotions and feelings.

“It’s about figuring it all out at the end of the day. I was down in the score but I didn’t give up.”

2021 Paris finalist Tsitsipas blunted any upset dreams from Altmaier, who has defeated Italians Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner previously here.

Tsitsipas is into the Roland Garros third round for the sixth consecutive year.

Main photo:- Carlos Alcaraz winning in four sets today by Pete Staples/ATPTour.com