World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz upset by player who had not won an ATP Tour match

ROME – World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock third-round defeat in the Italian Open at the hands of unheralded Fabian Marozsan, losing 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) on Monday.

The 20-year-old Spaniard had come into the tournament on the back of wins in Barcelona and Madrid but was outplayed by the 135th-ranked Marozsan.

The Hungarian said: “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 (soon-to-be) world No. 1, the best player in our sport now.

“Everything was perfect today.”

Marozsan, 23, won the final six points of the second-set tiebreak to hand US Open champion Alcaraz a wake-up call with the French Open starting in less than a fortnight.

Marozsan, who next plays Borna Coric for a place in the quarter-finals, had not won a match on the ATP Tour before the tournament.

It was the first defeat for Alcaraz by a player ranked outside the top 100 since the 2021 Paris Masters when he fell to Hugo Gaston.

Meanwhile, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic said his rivalries with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray had helped him become stronger in the face of adversity, after he

battled his way into the last 16

of the Italian Open.

The 35-year-old Serb was a set and a break up in Sunday’s match with Grigor Dimitrov but was then dragged into a decider, where he raised his level again to close out a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 win after more than two hours.

“Luckily for me, in my career, I managed to win more matches than I lost when I was facing difficult circumstances,” he said.

“For a few years, whenever I needed to make that final step or win a Grand Slam, I didn’t manage to do that, so I learnt a lot.

“I got stronger because of the rivalries, particularly with Federer, Nadal and Murray,” he added.

Djokovic, Federer, Nadal and Murray were dubbed the “Big Four”, as they won a combined 67 Grand Slam titles in an unprecedented period of dominance and were involved in some of the most memorable matches over the last two decades.

“Staying the course, staying patient and believing in the process and the journey,” Djokovic said. “Understanding what works for you best, what’s your winning formula mentally and also physically and emotionally, and then sticking to it.”

Djokovic, who is gunning for a men’s record 23rd Major title at the French Open starting later in May, will face Briton Cameron Norrie on Tuesday for a place in the Rome quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, women’s world No. 1 Iga Swiatek has also reflected on one of the “Big Four”.

While she feels most comfortable on clay, the Pole hopes to emulate her idol Nadal and win titles on all surfaces to become one of the game’s greats.

The 21-year-old won the French Open in 2020 and 2022 and has also proven herself on hard surfaces, winning the US Open last September. Grass courts are a different story, however, with the Pole failing to go beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon.

“I think if you want to be the best in tennis, you have to play well on all these surfaces,” Swiatek said following her 6-2, 6-0 win over Lesia Tsurenko at the Italian Open on Sunday. “I’m lucky enough to have the grass-court season for only three weeks... (but) I know it’s an important part of the tour and I should be better at it.”

She pointed to the example of Nadal, who has been the dominant men’s player on clay over the last two decades with 14 Roland Garros titles, while also winning multiple crowns at the other Majors.

“As you can see, Rafa, he’s called a clay-court specialist, but he won so many tournaments on hard courts and grass as well. The goal is to be good everywhere,” she said.

In the women’s draw on Monday, Kazakhstan’s Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, the seventh seed, beat the Czech 2019 French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-3.

“There are always going to be players who feel more comfortable on clay or on hard courts, so it’s just a matter of the technique and being used to it.”

AFP, REUTERS