France’s Paris, Carlos Alcaraz kept his championship defense on track on Friday at Roland Garros after overcoming a fierce challenge spell. According to ATP’s official website, the Spaniard had to fight hard to overcome Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 after a dominant start. The match lasted three hours and fourteen minutes.

Early in the fourth set, the 22-year-old was down by a break, but he was able to gather himself and take back the lead. Alcaraz was broken when serving for the match at 5-4, but he broke right away to go to the fourth round.

Alcaraz got out to a determined start, controlling rallies with blazing forehands, some of which reached speeds of over 100 mph (160 km/h). Dzumhur created break point opportunities in each set, but he only converted one of his first eight chances, which left Court Philippe-Chatrier in the middle of the action.

Dzumhur demonstrated adaptability and tenacity by moving inside the baseline to launch an attacking play. He placed Alcaraz under strain with his well-timed backhand winners down the line and surged forward, causing the Spaniard to seem uneasy and make uncharacteristic mistakes.

After squandering his first nine break opportunities, Alcaraz eventually broke back to put a stop to Dzumhur’s comeback. The World No. 2 finished the match with 52 winners, 38 of which came from his forehand, and converted seven of his 21 break opportunities overall.

Alcaraz has a fantastic 30-2 clay-court record since May of last year, which includes a silver medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and his first Roland Garros championship. He has previously won clay-court ATP Masters 1000 championships at Monte-Carlo and Rome in 2025.

The 13th-seeded Ben Shelton will now face the four-time Grand Slam champion in a crucial fourth-round match. Alcaraz wants to become the first player to successfully defend the Roland Garros title since Rafael Nadal (2019–20).