Donaldson rallies for five-set win over Jarry in first round of French

In one of the more intriguing first-round matches on the first day of the 2018 French Open, Jared Donaldson ultimately prevailed over Nicolas Jarry in five sets, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Despite their nearly identical rankings—Donaldson is the world No. 57 and Jarry is the world No. 59—it would have been fair to assume that Jarry would find a way to advance, given his familiarity with the surface. But while the Chilean was the more comfortable of the two on clay, it was the American who had more fight in him on Sunday.

After dropping the first set, Jarry took the next two and looked like he was on his way to a second-round meeting with Grigor Dimitrov. But Donaldson wasn't ready to throw the towel. The 21-year-old from Providence came out and played a remarkable fourth set, winning 6-3 in just over a half hour. He completely stole the momentum from Jarry, and it carried over into the fifth.

**WATCH—Match point from Donaldson's win over Jarry in French Open: **

While the match wasn't clinical for Donaldson, it let us see his mental toughness on display in a pressure-packed setting. He saved seven of the 10 break points he faced, and this match could have easily turned had he let just one more of those go. And while Jarry hit an astonishing 50 winners, Donaldson committed only 23 unforced errors. That's a significant number, considering that Jarry committed 53.

Overall, Donaldson should be happy with the way he was able to gut out a win. He now faces Dimitrov, who won his opening-round match against Mohamed Safwat in straight sets. But while Dimitrov is a Top 5 player at the moment, he is definitely beatable on clay. That, along with this performance, should give Donaldson hope when he takes the court on Wednesday.

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