Alcaraz pushed to the limit in Paris

Rising star Carlos Alcaraz saved a match point in the fourth set and erased an early deficit in the fifth to overcome fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Viñolas 6-1, 6-7 (7), 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-4 at the French Open on Wednesday.

The sixth-seeded Alcaraz grabbed six of the final seven games, and the last half-dozen points, to finish off the second-round victory after more than 4 1 ⁄2 hours.

“At the end of the third set, I thought I was going to lose,” Alcaraz said.

“I knew I had to change something or I would lose.”

Alcaraz is just 19, but arrived in Paris with high expectations — his own and those of others — based on a 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 his idol, 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 quicker-than-anyone-expected exit against the 34-year-old RamosViñolas, ranked 44th. Alcaraz was a point from losing while Ramos-Viñolas served for the victory at 5-4 in the fourth set. But Ramos-Viñolas 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.

The day also included straight-set victories for defending champion Djokovic and 13-time champion Nadal. There were losses by reigning U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu — the 19-year-old’s French Open debut ended against Aliaksandra Sasnovich in three sets — and No. 4 seed Maria Sakkari.