Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz’s 12-game winning streak was unexpectedly snapped in the third round of the Italian Open on Monday when he lost in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 (4) against Hungarian Fabian Marozsan, 135e in the world and from qualifications.
Alcaraz suffered its earliest elimination since October.
Alcaraz came to Rome after winning back-to-back clay-court tournaments in Barcelona and Madrid. He had also ensured his return to first place in the world rankings with his victory in his first match of the tournament and had won 30 of his 32 previous outings.
However, the 20-year-old Spaniard seemed surprised by the way Marozsan dictated the tempo of the match with spectacular play produced from all over the court, including a series of drop shots that Alcaraz never knew how to replicate.
“I just didn’t feel comfortable. He made me feel uncomfortable on the pitch, Alcaraz said. He was always aggressive. He always played inside the baseline. It was difficult for me to enter the match, in the exchanges. I made several unusual mistakes. »
The outcome means Alcaraz will head to the French Open — which will begin in less than two weeks and where he will be the top seed — after a disheartening loss.
This is only the second setback for Alcaraz on clay this year. In February, he lost to Cameron Norrie in the final of the Rio de Janeiro tournament.
This failure is all the more surprising given that Marozsan had qualified for the main draw of an ATP tournament for the very first time in his career. And the match took place in front of a packed house on center court.
“It was my dream last night. And now it’s reality,” Marozsan said.
“I was just trying to do something special, win a few games or maybe a set or something, and I just beat number one in the world — he’s our best [joueur] tennis. Everything was perfect today; the crowd, the weather, the court. »
Alcaraz built a 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker, but the Hungarian won six straight points to close out the clash.
” It’s fantastic. I don’t know what happened during the points,” Marozsan said. “I was just trying to return every ball and do my best. »
Towards the end of the second set, Alcaraz started shouting “Vamos” every time he won an important point. But Marozsan never gave up and pulled off a timed parallel backhand at 132 km/h to end a rally, and earned several more close points at the net.
By the end of the match, Marozsan had accumulated twice as many winners as Alcaraz — 24 against 12 — and committed far fewer unforced errors — 13 against 24.
In the next round, Marozsan will battle Borna Coric, who continued his strong performance on clay by defeating Roberto Carballes Baena 7-6 (3), 6-1.
At the Madrid Open last week, Coric reached the semi-finals before losing to Alcaraz.
Also, Monte Carlo Tournament champion Andrey Rublev beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6(8), 6-3). Rublev will now face Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann, also from qualifying, who defeated Marco Cecchinato 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Daniil Medevedev, who had never won a game in his first three appearances at Foro Italico, meanwhile advanced to the next round coming from behind 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 against Bernabe Zapata Miralles .
“I’m playing my best tennis on clay right now,” observed Medvedev.
On the women’s side, Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina edged Marketa Vondrousova in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals. She awaits the winner of the duel between Iga Swiatek, two-time defending champion, and Donna Vekic, which will finally take place on Tuesday.
Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina came from behind to defeat American Madison Keys 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, while China’s Zheng Qinwen defeated her compatriot Wang Xiyu 6-4, 3-6 , 6-1. Veronika Kudermetova and Beatriz Haddad Maia also won their match.
A few men’s matches have been suspended until Tuesday due to rain.
Lorenzo Musetti led 5-7, 6-4, 2-1 against Frances Tiafoe. Stefanos Tsitsipas won the first set 6-3 over Lorenzo Sonego as Alexander Zverev held a 6-4, 3-3 lead over JJ Wolf.