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Novak Djokovic cruises to French Open third round, Alcaraz, Zverev pull of great escapes
Novak Djokovic won his second round match in straight sets while Carlos Alcaraz saved a match point in the fourth set and had to erase an early deficit in the fifth to go through to the third round.
Spanish youngster 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), 7-5, 6-7 (2), 6-4 at the French Open. Meanwhile, defending champion Novak Djokovic eased into the third round of the French Open with a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (4) win.
German third seed Alexander Zverev, meanwhile overcame Argentina’s Sebastian Baez 2-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 7-5.
The sixth-seeded Alcaraz grabbed six of the final seven games, and the last half-dozen points, to finish off the second-round victory that lasted more than 4 1/2 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 quicker-than-anyone-expected 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.
The top-ranked Djokovic defeated the 24-year-old Slovakian 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (4) at Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Molcan is coached by Djokovic's long-time coach Marian Vajda and 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 32-year-old Slovenian Aljaž Bedene.
Alexander Zverev had to rally from two sets down and save a match point to reach the third round Roland Garros.
