Carlos Alcaraz battles past Damir Dzumhur to reach French Open fourth round
Published on May 31, 2025
By IANS
- PARIS — Carlos Alcaraz survived a late challenge on Friday at Roland
Garros to keep his title defense alive. After a commanding start, the Spaniard
had to reset his game to overcome Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
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- The 22-year-old found himself down a break early in the
fourth set but regrouped to finish the match after a rollercoaster three hours
and 14 minutes. Although Alcaraz was broken while serving for the match at 5-4,
he immediately responded with a break of his own to seal the win and move into
the fourth round.
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- Alcaraz opened strong, taking control with aggressive
forehands, some clocking over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). Dzumhur had break
points in every set and finally converted his first after seven misses,
sparking late drama on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
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- The Bosnian, who has a diverse game, adopted a more
attacking position on the baseline and produced impressive backhand winners
down the line while also moving forward to apply pressure. Alcaraz appeared
frustrated at times, committing uncharacteristic errors as he struggled to
respond.
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- After failing to convert his first nine break chances
across the third and fourth sets, Alcaraz finally capitalised to level the
fourth set and stop Dzumhur’s momentum. The 19-time tour-level titlist created
21 break opportunities in the match, converting seven — including one to close
the match at 5-4 in the fourth. He totaled 52 winners, 38 from his forehand.
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- Since May of last year, Alcaraz holds a 30-2 record on
clay, according to the ATP Win/Loss Index — a stretch that includes his maiden
Roland Garros title and a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The World
No. 2 in the ATP Rankings also claimed ATP Masters 1000 titles on clay in
Monte-Carlo and Rome earlier in 2025.
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- As the second seed and anchor of the bottom half of the
draw, Alcaraz will next face 13th seed Ben Shelton in a high-profile
fourth-round meeting. He leads Shelton 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head series.
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- Alcaraz is aiming to become the first man to defend his
Roland Garros crown since fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal did so in 2019-2020. The
four-time Grand Slam champion has now reached at least the fourth round in 11
of his past 12 major appearances, with his only early exit coming in the second
round of last year’s US Open (loss to van de Zandschulp).
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- Dzumhur, 33, was competing in the third round of a major
for the sixth time and for the first time since 2018 at Roland Garros — the
same year he reached a career-high No. 23 in the ATP Rankings.
