Jesper de Jong’s strong French Open ends in straight-set loss to Zverev

Jesper de Jong’s French Open run ended Sunday in Paris on his 26th birthday, as world No. 3 Alexander Zverev defeated the Dutch player 7-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the fourth round at Roland Garros.

De Jong, who reached the last 16 of a Grand Slam for the first time, started strongly on the main court in Paris and raced to a 3-0 lead in the opening set. But Zverev recovered to win the set in a tiebreak before taking control of the match and comfortably claiming the second and third sets.

The German, 29, had also defeated De Jong in the second round last year. Looking ahead to the quarterfinals, Zverev will face Spain’s Rafael Jódar, who advanced after defeating fellow Spanish man Pablo Carreño Busta in five sets.

Speaking afterward to NOS, De Jong reflected positively on both the match and tournament despite the defeat. “Of course I’m disappointed that I lost, but it’s nice when the crowd welcomes you by singing ‘Happy Birthday,’” he said. “It has been a very nice birthday and a nice tournament.”

De Jong said the turning point came after he failed to convert his early advantage. “If you want anything from a match like this, you have to win the first set,” he told the media. “He made a lot of errors at the beginning, which meant I never really got into the match myself. Once he started serving well, it became very difficult. There is not much you can do against him then. All in all, I still had a good day.”

The run in Paris marked a turnaround for the player from Alkmaar after a difficult first half of the season in which he had not won a main-draw match at the highest level. He lost in qualifying but entered the main draw as a lucky loser.

He then beat former champion Stan Wawrinka, 41, in the first round, defeated 19-year-old Italian Federico Cinà in the second round and upset Russia’s Karen Khachanov, 30, in the third round before falling to Zverev.