(Rome) Carlos Alcaraz, who will return to world No.1 next Monday and remained on two titles in Barcelona and Madrid, was beaten on Monday from the 3e lap of the Masters 1000 of Rome by the 135e world Fabian Marozsan, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).
Less than two weeks before the start of Roland-Garros, where he will be one of the main favourites, the 20-year-old Spaniard was overtaken by his Hungarian opponent who had never won a match on the ATP circuit before. before this Roman tournament.
In the next round, Marozsan, 23, will face Croatian Borna Coric (16e) to try to reach the quarter-finals.
For Alcaraz, it’s an unexpected halt to a high-flying series.
After missing the Australian Open in January through injury, the Spaniard has won four of the six tournaments played since, in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona and Madrid. He also played the final in Rio and the semis in Miami.
In total, before facing Marozsan, Alcaraz posted since the beginning of the season two defeats for 30 victories, including 20 on clay.
But, astonishing as it is, on Monday he was suffocated by Marozsan, to the point of showing gestures of frustration.
Because everything succeeded for the native of Budapest who hit in all directions and distilled some well-felt cushioning for a total of 24 winning shots (12 for Alcaraz).
Against all odds, the Hungarian broke in the first set to lead 3-1 by taking white Alcaraz’s service game. He ended with a shutout on his own face-off.
In the second set, Marozsan stayed on his cloud until he broke to lead 4-3. But this time he was slightly less sharp and put Alcaraz back immediately at 4-4.
At 5-5, the Hungarian had another break point, but couldn’t avoid the tiebreaker.
In that tiebreaker, Alcaraz looked able to turn the game around when they came away 4-1. But it was Marozsan who chained the next six points to clinch the best victory of his career.
Four times this year, he had failed in qualifying on the main circuit: at the Australian Open, Marseille, Estoril and Banja Luka.
In Rome, after his two qualifying rounds, he obtained his first two ATP victories by beating Frenchman Corentin Moutet (67e) then the Czech Jiri Lehecka (39e).