Alcaraz made to suffer in four-set win over Dzumhur

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz fought hard to reach the French Open fourth round. He faced a tough opponent, Damir Dzumhur.

Alcaraz took a two-set lead but Dzumhur made a comeback. Their match went into a fourth set on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Alcaraz, the second seed, won 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. He aims to be the first man since Rafael Nadal in 2020 to retain the title.

"I didn't enjoy it too much," said Alcaraz. "I suffered quite a lot but I'm happy with my performance."

He noted that winning Grand Slams is challenging. Players must maintain focus for three or four hours.

"The first two sets were under control," he explained. "Then he played deeper and more aggressively. My energy dropped and it was hard to push back."

Alcaraz will face 13th seed Ben Shelton next. Shelton defeated Matteo Gigante earlier on Friday.

In his previous match against Fabian Marozsan, Alcaraz's form was inconsistent. However, he started strong against Dzumhur.

After overcoming early break points, Alcaraz won five games in a row. He finished the first set in just 30 minutes.

Dzumhur struggled to contain Alcaraz's power during the opening sets. The second set followed a similar pattern.

Although Dzumhur had break point opportunities, he couldn't capitalize on them. A double fault gave Alcaraz a two-set lead.

Errors crept into Alcaraz's game in the third set as Dzumhur improved. After receiving treatment for a knee injury, Dzumhur finally broke through.

Alcaraz missed several chances to break back at 4-3 down. Dzumhur served out the set successfully despite pressure from Alcaraz.

Dzumhur continued his momentum into the fourth set and broke Alcaraz early on. The Spaniard struggled with unconverted break points again.

However, Alcaraz regained his form and won four consecutive games. Although he was broken while serving for the match, he broke back again to win as midnight approached in Paris.

In other matches, Danish 10th seed Holger Rune reached the fourth round by defeating Quentin Halys in five sets.

Rune came from two sets down to win 4-6, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2. He will face eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti next after Musetti beat Mariano Navone in four sets.

12th seed Tommy Paul also advanced after another five-set match against Karen Khachanov. Paul won with scores of 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, and 6-3.

Paul will meet Australian Alexei Popyrin next after Popyrin defeated Nuno Borges in straight sets: 6-4, 7-6 (13-11), and 7-6 (7-5).

American Frances Tiafoe beat compatriot Sebastian Korda with scores of 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, and 6-4. Tiafoe will face unseeded German Daniel Altmaier next.

Altmaier reached his first Grand Slam fourth round by defeating Hamad Medjedovic: scores were 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, and 6-2.

French player Arthur Fils has withdrawn from his upcoming match due to injury concerns after beating Jaume Munar on Thursday.

Fils was scheduled to play Russian Andrey Rublev next. Rublev awaits either top seed Jannik Sinner or Czech Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round; they are set to meet Saturday.