Carlos Alcaraz didn't cruise in his second match at the 2024 Roland Garros, but he still won in four sets.
The Spanish youngster faced a very motivated Jesper de Jong, who played an incredible match that gave Alcaraz far more trouble than he had ever anticipated facing, even though the third seed also played far from his best.
The Spaniard entered this match as a huge favorite but faced much opposition, making even the most ardent fans worry. He won the first set comfortably because he was the better player.
He was more aggressive and overwhelmed his opponent even though the match wasn't as clean as he had hoped. The whole match wasn't actually clean, but it's good to get these struggles out of the way early, so you don't have to deal with that later on.
The second set was a bit more competitive because de Jong raised his level a little bit, but it was still not enough to win the set. It was 6-4 for Alcaraz, who still played better in the right spots.
The third set was a terrible one from Alcaraz. He got broken early and then completely lost focus in the rest of the set, totaling 15 unforced errors in only 8 games of play. De Jong won the third set 6-2, and then he actually took an early break from the two-time major winner in the fourth set.
He was still kind of missing a lot, but he stopped unforced errors soon after that. He turned things around relatively quickly, cruising to the finish line. De Jong ran out of steam because he put a lot of energy into the match until the fourth set.
After taking a 5-2 lead in the fourth set, Alcaraz finished things off, winning the match 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. It was not as clean as his previous win in Paris, and he will be looking to improve in the following matches.
Carlos Alcaraz vs Jesper de Jong Match Stats:
| Carlos Alcaraz | 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 | Jesper de Jong |
| 2 | Aces | 2 |
| 2 | Double Faults | 7 |
| 70% | First Serve % | 58% |
| 65% (52/80) | Points Won After First Serve % | 55% (40/73) |
| 50% (17/34) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 44% (23/52) |
| 44% (8/18) | Break Point Conversion | 42% (5/12) |
| 35 | Winners | 26 |
| 47 | Unforced Errors | 36 |
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