'I had to calm my thoughts and think more clearly': Carlos Alcaraz overcomes third set struggle to advance in Roland Garros 2025

Roland Garros' reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz secured his spot in the fourth round of the tournament. The Spaniard maintained his focus throughout the first two sets, but then found himself losing the third due to some lack of concentration which helped Dzumhur come up with his best tennis, but in the end Alcaraz came up firing in the fourth to finish the deal. In the round of 16, Alcaraz will be facing USA's talented lefty, Ben Shelton.

2024 French Open Carlos Alcaraz didn't have his best performance on Friday facing world No. 62 Damir Dzumhur, but was still able to get an important win to keep dreaming on defending the title in Paris.

After the match, world No. 2 shared his thoughts about the match, satisfied with the victory:

"Problems always come. Playing at a high level for two or two and a half hours is the tough part. There are moments when you drop off. I had some doubts, physically or in my tennis, and he took advantage of that."

"You have to give him credit too. In the third set, I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t see any openings. In the fourth, a break down, I had to calm my thoughts and think more clearly about the game plan I needed to follow. In the end, I was able to find the advantage he left me."

"He took advantage of the crowd being behind him and supporting him. Obviously, people tend to root for the underdog. I don’t give it much importance. Maybe Damir played good tennis as a result of that, " said Alcaraz when asked about the fans cheering for the Bosnian during the match."

"The level of tennis in the first and second sets was very high. He changed the way he played because at the beginning he was staying back and giving me a lot of time to hit my shots and play the way I wanted. I was feeling great out there, " stated the Spaniard, praising the adjustments his rival made during the match, which led him to win the third set.

About being able to keep going and winning despite some quality drops on his game, Alcaraz stated:

"Having these kinds of moments in these rounds and being able to overcome them helps you understand what needs to be improved, knowing that the same thing could happen in the next round and that you need to approach it differently."

"Going through these situations and coming out on top gives you a lot of positives heading into the next match. You learn what things shouldn’t happen again, " concluded Carlitos.