2025 French Open: Carlos Alcaraz survives scare to reach R16
What's the story
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz has advanced to the fourth round of the ongoing French Open.
The Spanish tennis star defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina's Damir Dzumhur in a hard-fought four-set match, winning 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
The match lasted three hours and 14 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier at Roland Garros.
Match highlights
Alcaraz's early dominance and Dzumhur's comeback
Alcaraz started the match on a strong note, dominating with aggressive forehands, some of which were over 160km/h.
However, Dzumhur held break points in all four sets, converting his first on the eighth opportunity. This set up an exciting finish to the match.
The Bosnian-Herzegovinian player took a more aggressive baseline position and showcased his variety by hitting backhand down-the-line winners and moving forward to put pressure on Alcaraz.
Comeback
Alcaraz's resilience and break opportunities
Despite Dzumhur's aggressive play, Alcaraz managed to break through after missing his first nine break chances in the third and fourth sets.
The 19-time tour-level champion had 21 break chances for the match, converting seven of them.
He finished with an impressive tally of 52 winners, including 38 from his forehand.
Next challenge
Alcaraz's clay court record and upcoming match
Alcaraz now has a 30-2 record on clay since May 2022, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.
This includes his first Roland Garros title and a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Spaniard has also won ATP Masters 1000 titles on this surface in Monte-Carlo and Rome in 2025.
He will next face American Ben Shelton in a highly anticipated fourth-round clash.
Information
Here are the match stats
Alcaraz doled out 4 aces to his opponent's nil. In terms of double faults, Alcaraz committed 5 to his opponent's six. Alcaraz had a 64% win on the first serve and a 65% win on the 2nd. He converted 7/21 break points.
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21 wins at Roland Garros
Alcaraz has improved to a 21-3 win-loss record at the French Open. He hasn't won more matches at the other three Grand Slams. Apart from winning the 2024 French Open, Alcaraz claimed successive Wimbledon titles (2023-2024) and the 2022 US Open honor.