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Carlos Alcaraz, the Spanish tennis superstar, reached the fourth round of the French Open after defeating Damir Dzumhur from Bosnia and Herzegovina, in his defence of the coveted title. In the third round clash at the Court Philippe Chatrier, the 22-year-old had to battle for four sets to put away a game opponent with a scoreline of 6-1 6-3 4-6 6-4, following which, in the post-match interview, he spoke about not enjoying it too much apart from suffering quite a lot on court.
In the first couple of sets, second-seed Carlos Alcaraz was in cruise control, breaking the serve of Damir Dzumhur on multiple occasions, but the complexion of the match changed completely afterwards. The third set saw Alcaraz opted to play deeper in court, while trying to be aggressive in points, to register a commanding three-set win, but Dzumhur didn’t only neutralise the threat, but also break his serve before forcing the fourth set.
Under the Court Philippe Chatrier lights, Carlos Alcaraz had to dig deep in the fourth set, to find a way past Dzumhur, and his post-match interview was a clear indication to the effort put in by him on the day. He was quoted as saying, as per BBC Sport, “I didn't enjoy it too much. I suffered quite a lot but I'm happy to have played a good match with Damir. That's why it's difficult to win Grand Slams because you have to maintain your focus over three or four hours.”
“The first two sets were under control and then he decided to play deeper and more aggressive. My energy went down and it was hard to push, but I had to give everything I had inside. I'm proud to get the win in the end,” he added. The challenge in the fourth round will get bigger for Carlos Alcaraz as he will be taking on Ben Shelton from America, who is the 13th seed in the tournament, and he defeated Italian Matteo Gigante in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
