- Hungarian qualifier Fabian Marozsan puts up a superb display to upset World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz on Monday at the Rome Master 1000.
Marozsan stunned Alcaraz in the first set with the pace of his forehand, while he played the Spaniard at his own game with frequent drop shots to win 6-3.
The Hungarian, who had never played in the main draw of an ATP event or beaten a top-100 player prior to arriving in here in Rome as a qualifier, he now finds himself in the last 16 of one of the biggest tournaments outside the grand slams.
“It’s not easy to say something,” Marozsan said immediately after the biggest win of his career. “I’m very happy, I could have never imagined this.
It was my dream last night. “I said I’d try to do something special by winning a few games and maybe a set, and I just beat the (soon to be) world number one, the best player in our sport now. “Everything was perfect today.”
The Hungarian beat Frenchman Corentin Moutet (6-0, 6-7 (8), 6-2) and edged out Czech Jiri Lehecka, the No 32 seed (4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4)) earlier in the tournament.
The Hungarian will next face Borna Coric who also had a superb run at a masters 1000 last year in Cincin.
Alcaraz’s 12-match winning streak Ends
Alcaraz was riding high on a 12-match winning streak, having lost just two sets in his campaigns in Barcelona, Madrid and now Rome.
His only defeat on clay so far this year has been in the Rio final, at the hands of Cameron Norrie – and this is only his third defeat of the campaign, added to his loss to Jannik Sinner in the Miami semi-final.
Regardless of this result, he will return to the top of the rankings next Monday.
