Hungary qualifier Fabian Marozsan stunned World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz by 6-3, 7-6(4) to reach the fourth round in Rome at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Monday. Marozsan broke the Spaniard’s serve in the fourth game of the opening set to take a 3-1 lead.
The World No. 135 was playing his first ATP main draw event but he showed nerves of steel against Alcaraz, who has been in dream form in the recent past with a 30-2 record in 2023 before this match.
The Hungarian brought his best to the court against the 2022 US Open champion and he was delighted with his complete performance.
“It’s not easy to say something, I’m very, very happy,” said Marozsan. “I couldn’t imagine this. it was my dream last night. Now it’s true, I am very, very happy about this… I just tried to do something special, maybe winning a few games or a set or something like this, and now I just beat the [World No. 2].”
Marozsan was able to wrap up the match in straight sets in one hour and 40 minutes. In fact, Alcaraz was leading 4-1 in the second set tiebreaker but Marozsan won six points on the bounce to take the set and the match.
Marozsan was brilliant with his groundstrokes and also matched Alcaraz’s drop shot with fire.
“Everything was perfect today,” said Marozsan. “The crowd, the weather, the court. I’m just happy I’m doing my job.
“I think in the tie-break it was 1/4 and I won six points in a row. It’s amazing, I don’t know what happened during the points, I just tried to hit back every ball and tried to do my best. I tried to find out how to win points against him in that tough situation, and it just happened. I don’t know what to say.”
On the other hand, Alcaraz admitted he had his chances but he could not grab them. The Spaniard feels Marozsan could surprise a few more players if he continues to play in a similar fashion.
“I tried to fight until the last ball, but it wasn’t enough,” reflected Alcaraz in his post-match press conference. “Of course, in the second set, it was close. I had my chances at 6-5, 15/30. I would say I could win that set, except little things happened. Of course, he deserves the win. If he plays at that level, he’s going to surprise more than one.”
Marozsan will take on Borna Coric in the fourth round of the Italian Open.
