"It will help me": beaten in Rome to everyone's surprise, Carlos Alcaraz wants to rest before Roland-Garros

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: Giuseppe Maffia / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP 18:27 p.m., May 15, 2023

Carlos Alcaraz, who will become world number 1 again next Monday and remained on two titles in Barcelona and Madrid, was beaten Monday in the third round of the Masters 3 of Rome by the 1000th world Fabian Marozsan, 135-6, 3-7 (6/7). "I dreamed about it last night... I just tried to do something special and maybe hope to win a few games or even a set. But I just beat the world No. 4, the best of our sport... I'm so happy," said the Hungarian.

Less than two weeks before the start of Roland-Garros, where he will be one of the main favorites, the 20-year-old Spaniard was caught by his opponent who had never won a match on the ATP Tour before this Roman tournament. In the next round, Marozsan, 23, will face Croatia's Borna Coric (16th) to try to reach the quarterfinals.

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For Alcaraz, it's an unexpected stop to a high-flying series. After missing the Australian Open in January with 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 had since the beginning of the season two defeats for 30 victories, including 20 on clay.

But, astonishing as it is, on Monday he was smothered by Marozsan, to the point of showing gestures of frustration. Because everything worked for the native of Budapest who hit in all directions and distilled some well-felt cushions 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 Alcaraz's service game blank. He concluded with a shutout on his own play. In the second set, Marozsan stayed on his cloud until he broke to lead 4-3. In this decisive game, Alcaraz seemed able to turn the match around when he broke away 4/1. But it was Marozsan who chained the next six points to win the best victory of his career.

"Take a few days off"

"At 1/4, to win six points in a row is incredible. I do not know what happened on each of those points. I just tried to return the balls and do my best," Marozsan explained. Four times this year, he failed to qualify on the main circuit: at the Australian Open, Marseille, Estoril and Banja Luka. In Rome, after his two qualifying rounds, he had obtained his first two ATP victories by beating the Frenchman Corentin Moutet (67th) and the Czech Jiri Lehecka (39th).

For his part, Carlos Alcaraz wants to take advantage of this defeat to "take a few days off". "I need to rest my mind a little bit to arrive fresh at Roland Garros. And it will really help me to have a few days to train at home and prepare for Roland-Garros," he told a news conference.