By Scoop Malinowski
The installed “ATP World No. 1” who has been lauded as superior to Federer, Nadal and Djokovic by the tennis establishment, has fallen in Rome, beaten in the second round by the 135th ranked player in the world Fabian Marozsan. The score of this shocking upset was 63 76 for the unknown Hungarian qualifier playing his FIRST ever ATP World Tour event.
The deathblow by Maroszan was a forehand to the Spanish dynamo’s forehand which was hit long. There were no smiles today from Alcaraz who looked confused and dazed by perhaps the most improbable upset in tennis history. The world no. 1 just lost to a guy making his ATP Tour level debut.
Alcaraz is now 30-3 in 2023.
I only heard of Marozsan this week after seeing his name in the draw after he beat Corentin Moutet in the first round 60 67 62. I had never noticed his name before. So I researched and learned he’s 23 years old and stands 6-4. Also he never played in any junior Grand Slam tournaments though he did earn an ITF junior ranking of 53. His most notable match may be the AO first round qualifying loss to Juncheng Shang 64 76. There was just no indication Marozsan could even win a set from Alcaraz today, considering he lost earlier this year to the likes of Valentin Royer, Alexander Ritschard, Nino Serdarusic, Ivan Gakhov and Alexander Weis. Marozsan’s Challenger match record on the year before Rome qualies was a mediocre 15-14.
The magic for Marozsan in Rome started last week in qualies he defeated Tim Skatov 60 26 75 and then the son of former Brazilian lefty Felipe Meligeni, Felipe Meligeni Alves 75 61. Then came the upset of Moutet, who is just returning after a wrist injury hiatus, in first round and Jiri Lehecka in second round.
Marozsan said after his masterpiece win today: “It’s not easy to say something, I’m very, very happy. 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].”
“Everything was perfect today. 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.”
Carlos view of the match: “I was physically perfect, I just didn’t feel comfortable. He has made me feel uncomfortable on court. He has been aggressive all the time, it’s been hard for me to stay in the rallies. I have made many mistakes that I don’t usually make. He deserved to win.”
The architect of today’s miracle will attempt to extend his good fortunes tomorrow against Borna Coric in the fourth round.
Budapest · Carlos Alcaraz · Fabian Marozsan · Foro Italico · Hungary · Lotto · Rome
11 comments
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Matt Segel · May 15, 2023 at 2:42 pm
2000-1 underdog at the start of the match!
Scoop Malinowski · May 15, 2023 at 2:51 pm
If anyone bet Marozsan today they need to be celebrated — and or investigated )
Scoop Malinowski · May 15, 2023 at 2:53 pm
Someone showed on twitter that in the last four tournaments that both Novak and Carlos played together, Novak went deeper and Carlos suffered early defeats, suggesting Carlos has been ducking Novak. Can’t rule out that theory.
fannadal · May 16, 2023 at 4:35 am
Coach Ferrero didn’t know anything about Marozsan or his game so he couldn’t coach from the stands and tell Alcaraz where to hit every shot. Alcaraz doesn’t know how to think for himself.
(Make sure you watch the interview. He’s asked a very interesting question.)
https://twitter.com/TheTennisLetter/status/1658136875331391488
Scoop Malinowski · May 16, 2023 at 7:36 am
fannadal, Ferrero was quiet for the Marozsan match? I find it hard to believe Ferrero had no ideas at all to coach his puppet Carlos how to beat a guy ranked 135 with just two atp match wins both this week. sounds like ferrero is on vacation also like Carlos parents.
Scoop Malinowski · May 16, 2023 at 9:21 am
So Norrie hits Djokovic in the ankle with a slam after Novak turns his back. Then Djokovic is serving for the match and Norrie calls an injury timeout. Tennis media ignoring Norrie shenanigans but if you flip it and Djokovic did these two gamesmanship tricks against Norrie you know the tennis media would be crucifying and attacking Djokovic for dirty behavior. Equality is the biggest sham scam in sports history.
Sam · May 16, 2023 at 7:10 pm
Tennis media ignoring Norrie shenanigans
Well, Scoop, if Norrie had done the same thing against Federer, Nadal, Alcaraz, or a black player like Felix, I doubt they’d have ignored it. 😉
Scoop Malinowski · May 16, 2023 at 8:34 pm
Bullseye Sam. Defiance against Fed, Nadal, black players, Carlos is treated like a crime.
Sam · May 17, 2023 at 6:30 pm
is treated like a crime.
Scoop, you mean it’s NOT a crime??? 😉
Scoop Malinowski · May 17, 2023 at 8:10 pm
Sam, the Andrej Martin situation just happened.
Sam · May 18, 2023 at 12:57 am
Got it—thanks, Scoop.