World No.135 Fabian Marozsan has become only the third player this season to defeat Carlos Alcaraz after pulling off a huge upset at the Italian Masters on Monday.
Marozsan, who had never played a player ranked in the world’s top 30 before taking on Alcaraz, produced some stunning tennis throughout his 6-3, 7-6(4), win over the reigning US Open champion. Hitting a total of 24 winners and breaking his opponent two times. He is the lowest-ranked player to beat Alcaraz on the Tour since Alexander Erler did so at the 2021 Kitzhbuel Open.
“It is not easy to say something. I am very happy. It was my dream last night (to beat Alcaraz) and now it’s true. I’m very very happy about this,” Marozsan said during his post-match interview.
“I just tried to do something special. Winning a few games, a set or something like this. Now I have just beaten the world No.1, our best in the sport. I am really happy about this.” He added.
Despite his lack of experience, Marozsan was mainly unfazed throughout his latest match despite what was at stake. The underdog hit deep towards the baseline which prevented Alcaraz from dictating rallies and also managed to conjure up some perfectly placed drop shots. Even when he faced adversity in the second set he refused to back down. Marozsan failed to convert three break points during the fifth game and then later in that set lost a break advantage.
Despite those setbacks, the qualifier held his nerve to prevail in the tiebreaker and claim the biggest win of his career. Recovering from a 1-4 deficit, he closed out the match with the help of back-to-back forehand errors from the world No.2.
“Everything was perfect today. The crowd, venue and court,” the Hungarian commented.
“In the tiebreak, I was down 1-4 and then I won six points in a row. It’s amazing. I don’t know what happened during these points, I just tried to do my best. Find something about how to beat him in this tough situation and this happens. I don’t know what to say.”
Marozsan is making his ATP Tour main draw debut in Rome this year at the age of 23. During the early stage of his career, he played only on the ITF Tour between 2017-2021 before making his maiden appearance on the Challenger Tour last season.
As for Alcaraz, his 12-match winning streak has come to an end. Regarded as one of the favourites to win the French Open, the Spaniard has won four titles so far in 2023 with two of those being on the clay. The only other players to have beaten him on the Tour this year was Cameron Norrie at the Rio Open and Jannik Sinner in Miami.
Awaiting Marozsan in the fourth round will be Croatia’s Borna Coric. As a result of his latest win, he will rise to around 114th in the world.
