Off-colour Alcaraz made to work to beat qualifier

An off-colour Carlos Alcaraz had to dig deep to beat inspired qualifier Jesper de Jong and reach the French Open third round.

Spain's Alcaraz looked subdued at times in a 6-3 6-4 2-6 6-2 victory over a player ranked 173 places below him.

Dutchman De Jong played well above his ranking but it was a rusty performance from Alcaraz, who had to twice come back from a break down in the fourth set.

"I prefer not to spend too much time on the court, I want to be in good shape for the next round but every match is different," Alcaraz said.

"I was in trouble at points. Jesper and I put on a good show [with] drop shots, volleys and I think he did it better than me."

Alcaraz will face either American Sebastian Korda or Kwon Soon-woo of South Korea next.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2022 runner-up, was among the winners on Wednesday but play on the outdoor courts was once again disrupted by rain.

This was almost the exact opposite of third seed Alcaraz's dominant first-round win against lucky loser JJ Wolf.

The 21-year-old still had a compression sleeve on his right forearm - an injury which impacted his preparations for Roland Garros - and his lack of match practice showed.

After a relatively straightforward first two sets, it was as though Alcaraz's concentration began to drift, often following a good shot with one that sailed wide or found the net.

He made 47 unforced errors, most of which came in the third set as he quickly went a double break down.

It looked as though the match could get even trickier for Alcaraz as he was immediately broken at the start of the fourth set, once again on a long forehand.

However, he seemed to re-engage in the next game as he got to 30-30 on the De Jong serve. His team did their best to encourage him and, as De Jong sent a forehand into the net, Alcaraz seemed more like himself.

The two traded breaks once again, with the set level at 2-2 before Alcaraz pulled away, helped by a tiring De Jong, who beat Britain's Jack Draper in five sets in the first round.

There was a palpable sense of relief from Alcaraz at the end, although he will know that tougher tests await as he attempts to secure a third major title.

"The energy that I received from the people to forget about the third set and be at my best in the fourth set was really helpful to me," he added.