The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sixth seed Alcaraz, top seed Djokovic win at French Open
PARIS— Rising star Carlos Alcaraz saved a match point in the fourth set and erased an early deficit in the fifth to overcome Albert Ramos-vinolas 6-1, 6-7 (7), 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-4 at Roland Garros. Sixth-seeded Alcaraz grabbed six of the final seven games, and the last half-dozen points, to finish the second-round French Open victory that lasted more than 4½ hours.
Alcaraz is just 19 but arrived in Paris with a lot of expectations — of his own and of others — based on his breakthrough season that includes a tour-leading four titles.
He is the youngest player to break into the top 10 of the ATP rankings since Rafael Nadal in 2005. En route to the Madrid Open title on red clay earlier this month, Alcaraz became the first man to beat both Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the same tournament on that surface. But he was quite close to making a quick exit against fellow Spaniard Ramos-vinolas, a 34-year-old who is ranked 44th.
Alcaraz was a point from losing while Ramos-vinolas served for the victory at 5-4 in the fourth set. But Ramos-vinolas missed a forehand there. Eighty minutes later, after trailing 3-0 in the fifth, Alcaraz earned his first match point and converted it with an ace.
Alcaraz improved to 18-1 on clay this season. The lone loss came at the Monte Carlo Masters last month against Sebastian Korda — who happens to be Alcaraz’s next opponent.
Alcaraz said he will re-watch that match to see how to try to reverse the result. Good as he might already be, his oft-stated desire to keep improving bodes well for down the road.
Nadal reached 300 career Grand Slam match victories by beating Corentin Moutet 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 Wednesday. The only real blip for the 13-time French Open champion Nadal came near the end, when he was broken by the 139th-ranked Frenchman while serving for the match at 5-3. But Nadal broke right back to improve to 107-3 at Roland Garros.
Djokovic eased into the third round of his title defense with a straight-set victory over Alex Molcan. Top-ranked Djokovic defeated the Slovakian 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Molcan — coached by Djokovic’s long-time coach Marian Vajda — was able to push Djokovic to a third-set tiebreaker. But Molcan threw his racket down in frustration after hitting the ball into the net — his 34th unforced error — to fall behind 6-3 before Djokovic closed it out. The 20-time Grand Slam champion next faces Slovenian Aljaž Bedene.
Alexander Zverev had to rally from two sets down and save a match point to reach the third round at Roland Garros. The German overcame Argentina’s Sebastian Baez 2-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 7-5. That’s the good news for the No. 3 seed. The bad news is Baez was making his French Open debut, and Zverev’s half of the draw includes Djokovic, Nadal and Alcaraz.
Zverev had trouble with the 21-year-old Baez’s serve but got his return game in order in the third set.
Zverev saved a match point before holding for 5-5 in the decider and then broke Baez before serving out the match.
The last time Zverev put himself in a two-set hole at Roland Garros it didn’t end as well. He battled back in the semifinals last June against Stefanos Tsitsipas but lost in five sets.