Defending champion Alcaraz Laurie enters the fourth round of the French Open

Paris – Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz entered the fourth round of the French Open after passing Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in Friday night’s match.

The second seed Spaniard never played the 33-year-old Bosnian Dzumhur, who never competed in any major competition.

“I suffered a lot today,” Alkaraz said. “The first two sets were under control and then he started to go deeper and more active. It was really hard for me.”

Dzumhur injured his left knee in a second round fall and was treated on his right leg during a transition of 3-2 down in the third set on Friday. Then he lay on the ground while the coach worked on both legs for a few minutes.

Philippe-Chatrier’s crowd yelled “Olé” as she waited.

Dzumhur then won the third set again despite maintaining an uneven balance, and he received cheers again when he broke Alcaraz in the opening game of the fourth set.

An impossible turnaround seems to occur when Alcaraz makes a clumsy, non-compulsory mistake, beats a regular winner for a long time or hits a ball on his usually accurate forehand. At some point in the fourth set, Alcaraz even stared at the clay in frustration after sending out his thriving forehand.

But the four-time Grand Slam singles champions broke the game in Games 6 and 8.

Despite this, the resilient Dzumhur ran hard on his face, his sweat glittering and broke the suspense for a longer time.

“That’s why it’s hard to win a Grand Slam because you have to keep your focus for three to four hours,” Alkaraz said. “I don’t like it very much.”

Alcaraz finally won his second match point and faced Ben Shelton in the fourth round.

He led 2-0 against Sheldon, who was also 22 years old, but they never met on clay.

“I guess Central Court, playing the defending champion, is a cool opportunity and the experience is very cool,” Sheldon said.