Zverev survives De Jong drop shot bonanza to advance

Third seed Alexander Zverev had to chase down dozens of drop shots from sprightly Dutchman Jesper de Jong before earning a 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-3 victory on Thursday to advance to the French Open third round.

The 28-year-old Zverev, a finalist in Paris last year and looking for his first Grand Slam title, found himself a break down with De Jong, ranked 88th in the world, initially matching the German's baseline power punch for punch.

De Jong, bidding to become the first Dutch player to record a win over a top-three player on any clay tournament in 25 years, quickly added drop shots to his arsenal to land the first set.

"It wasn't the best set of tennis, the first," Zverev said in a post-match interview. "I am still having chances not playing great. Once I found my rhythm I felt very comfortable."

"I am happy about my level. He played a fantastic match also. I hope I can continue playing great tennis and we will see what I can achieve."

At least a semi-finalist in the past four French Opens, Zverev remained composed and twice broke his opponent to bag the second set.

De Jong, however, increased his drop shot rate dramatically -- even hitting three on consecutive points in the first game of the third set -- to force the tall Zverev out of his comfort zone at the baseline.

The world number three gradually adapted to this play, however, chasing down drop shot number 26 to earn a break point at 2-2 in the third set. He converted it to take control and never looked back.

With De Jong gradually running out of steam and his error count rising sharply, Zverev powered to two more breaks and a 4-0 lead to break his opponent's resistance and he sealed the win when De Jong sank another drop shot into the net.

Zverev will next play the winner of the all-Italian clash between Matteo Arnaldi and Flavio Cobolli.

Meanwhile, second seed Coco Gauff moved into the French Open third round on Thursday by beating unseeded Czech Tereza Valentova 6-2 6-4 although the American did not have things all her own way.

Gauff came under threat from the 18-year-old Valentova's powerful serve but found a way past her thanks to her relentless returning and powerful groundstrokes.

"She's very young and I knew it would be a tough match," 2022 runner-up Gauff said.

The 21-year-old took the opening set in 35 minutes but a string of service breaks, three in total, made the second a lot more competitive as her Czech opponent refused to go down quietly.

Gauff, a finalist in Madrid and Rome this year, will next take on Marie Bouzkova.