Carlos Alcaraz just knows how to move on clay. The defending champion at this year’s French Open is truly making big strides, now headed into the fourth round! On Friday, he battled past Bosnia and Herzegovina’s top ranked player, Damir Dzumhur. While Alcaraz had a moment where the tables turned on him in the third set, the Spaniard clawed back to prove why he still stands at the top of the ranks. But former pros might not feel too confident about his form for the next match against Ben Shelton!

After cruising early, Alcaraz had to hit the reset button to shake off Dzumhur, eventually sealing a 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win. Down a break in the fourth, he dug deep and wrapped things up after a wild three hours and 14 minutes. He was broken while serving for the match at 5-4, but immediately broke back to punch his ticket to the fourth round. Watching courtside, British ex-pro Tim Henman remarked on TNT Sports.

He said, “For me, that’s a little bit of a common theme,” Henman said. “When he’s focused and his shot selection is good, he dominates proceedings, and when you see the first two sets, 6-1 6-3, you think this is going to be one-way traffic.” However, his third-set loss stood out for the pro, “But when he loses concentration in the third set, he makes life difficult for himself.”

Even Alcaraz seemed frazzled by the sudden overtaking by Dzumhur! He was seen shouting to his box and even looking up to the sky after the match, grateful for another win. On the other hand, Jim Courier didn’t hold back either.

“I could not be more torn about it,” said Courier to TNT Sports about his approach. “I could not be more in love and in awe with the style of the tennis he brings to the court because it is something so unique and his unbelievably aggressive mindset is so different from the Spanish mindset which is concentrated, percentage tennis.” And it’s true!

After missing his first nine break chances in the third and fourth sets, Alcaraz finally cracked the code to stop Dzumhur’s surge and level things up. The 19-time tour-level champ racked up 21 break points in total, converting seven—including the clutch one that sealed the deal at 5-4 in the fourth. Alcaraz ended the match with an eye-popping 52 winners, 38 blazing off his forehand. This reminded Courier of a certain trio of legends of the sport.

Holding out hope that one day he’ll see Carlos held on a higher stage. He said, “But the other part of me that wants to see him challenge the all-time great records thinks if you do a little bit less of that, and still do it at the right time when you have the scoreboard lead, maybe in 10-15 years we will be looking at you and Roger [Federer], Rafa [Nadal] and Novak [Djokovic] and having a comparison. We will see.”

Carlos Alcaraz has been on a tear on clay, boasting a 30-2 record since last May, highlighted by his first Roland Garros crown and a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The World No. 2 has also added Masters 1000 titles in Monte-Carlo and Rome to his collection this season. But how does the young Spaniard himself feel about the surface?

Carlos Alcaraz opens up about the challenges he faced this time at Roland Garros

Dzumhur’s grit left the second-seeded Spaniard a bit shaken. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz confessed after the match. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Suddenly, the Spaniard was missing routine shots, sending forehands long, and staring down at the clay in disbelief.

But champions find a way. Alcaraz broke back in the sixth and eighth games of the fourth set, only for Dzumhur—sweating and determined—to break right back and stretch the drama. The crowd loved every minute as he finally closed it out on his second match point.

Afterward, Carlos summed up the challenge: “That’s why it’s difficult to win Grand Slams because you have to maintain your focus over three or four hours,” he said. “I didn’t enjoy it too much.” Still, he managed to dig deep and get the job done.

Next up? A high-voltage clash with Ben Shelton, the big-serving lefty Alcaraz has beaten twice before. Shelton, after dispatching Matteo Gigante, sounded fired up: “It’s probably a runaway train at this point, but I don’t want to count anyone out. I would be excited regardless of who I play. But to play the defending champion here on Chatrier, kind of my first breakout moment, you could say at Roland Garros, it is really exciting.”

Will Carlos Alcaraz roll into his third straight quarterfinal? We’d love to know what you think!