French Open : Novak Djokovic in control while Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev survive scares
- Planet Sport writer
- 26 May 2022
It was a mixed day for the top ATP players at the French Open - unless you're Novak Djokovic.
Novak Djokovic had no problems making it into the third round of the French Open on Wednesday, but Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev both had to save match points before advancing.
Djokovic, the defending champion, came up against Alex Molcan, who is coached by his former mentor Marian Vajda, on Court Philippe-Chatrier, but he breezed to a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 success.
It was the conditions rather than Molcan who caused Djokovic most problems, with the wind playing big role around Roland Garros.
"It was a difficult match," Djokovic said in his on-court interview. "The conditions were not easy.
"There was a lot of wind and it changed direction a lot.
"It meant that I had to concentrate a lot and I had to adapt a lot because the speed of the ball changed a lot during the match."
Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia now awaits Djokovic in the third round.
Carlos Alcaraz, meanwhile, had no such luxury of a comfortable victory, with him having to dig incredibly deep to overcome compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Alcaraz won the first set but the match quickly got away from him, with Ramos-Vinolas winning the next two sets.
In the fourth, Alcaraz had to save match point before getting himself out of trouble in a tiebreaker. That appeared like it would count for nothing when he went 0-3 down in the decider.
However, he was able to find yet another extra gear to escape with a 6-1, 6-7, 5-7, 7-6, 6-4 win.
Welcome to the @alcarazcarlos03 show 🤯#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/fVbODNenSl
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 25, 2022
Third seed Alexander Zverev survived a serious scare too, as he had to come back from two sets down before beaing Sebastian Baez 2-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 7-5.
"I was planning my holiday in Monaco, where I'm going to go," Zverev said.
"That relaxed me a bit, thinking of the beach. There's not much you can do, you just have to find a way.
"You talk about mental strength, talk about Rafa [Nadal] and Novak [Djokovic]. I'll never be on their level but I'm trying got get closer to them."
