Alcaraz and the positive side of his surprising defeat in Rome so soon – Spain’s News

There was a moment when it seemed like the typical game: the favorite resurfaces on time and takes advantage of the nerves of the rival rookie to turn the score around and take the victory. But not. because nothing in Fabian Marozsanthe amazing Hungarian, is being normal in the Rome Masters 1,000. The undisputed favorite of that third round was alcaraz and that moment described before came in the second set, after the 6-3 of the first and the break in favor of the Magyar. The Spaniard had already saved a 0-40 lead before the break and just after the break he answered with the counterbreak at the first opportunity he had. And he yelled furiously looking at Juan Carlos Ferrero: “Go Go”. It could be the “that’s it, I’ve got it”, that he thought and that most tennis fans thought.

But Marozsan didn’t even flinch. He continued to do his thing until the final victory by 6-3 and 7-6 (7/4), but he did not go crazy there either: barely a smile, nothing to throw himself to the ground or put his hands to his face to finish defeating the number two in the world, number one as of Monday and who had come with twelve victories in a row, as if it had not been something extraordinary. As if it were not about the 135th in the ranking that he was playing his first final draw of an ATP tournament, with his 23 years. A regular for the Challengers (he has two titles in this, let’s say, Second Division, both on clay), he had participated twice in the Davis cup, with defeat. And in the ATP appointments he did not go beyond the previous phases, until he did it in Rome and already in the final draw he was able to Moutetwith lehecka, the Czech, one of the surprises of 2023; and he gave the big bell against Alcaraz, also without discussion.

He dominated him in the exchanges, answering the Spanish’s stones with more firewood; he played with him with millimeter drop shots as the Murcian normally does, he played wonderfully and almost always at his feet and in the tie break he went from 1-4 against to 7-4, especially with two parallels, one from the right and the other from reverse, which left Carlos without reaction. “There were times when he did not know what was happening or why he was failing,” the Murcian admitted to Efe, giving credit to his rival and ensuring that if he continues at that level he will continue to win games.

“I have had my opportunities but I have not been able to read them, that is what has screwed me up, it has taken its toll on me,” Alcaraz acknowledged. It is the only thing that was reproached. It is normal that he came to a slump after winning the Godó and the Mutua Madrid Open consecutively and at the gates of Roland Garros. The anomalous thing about the situation in the background is that an unknown tennis player has beaten him. Marozsan’s adventure at the Foro Italico continues and Carlos’s is going to have a necessary break. “I’m going to rest a bit. I really need a few days to reset my mind a bit and to be fresh for Roland Garros,” he explained. “Of course I will have to train. If I want to go to Paris in good shape I have to train and be better. In these months I have not been able to train more than three or four days in a row. I have been playing a lot. It will be very useful for me to have days at home training and getting ready for Paris”, he added as a positive reading to lose so early.

Number one

He will go to the second Grand Slam of the season, which he has set as his goal (the first, the Australian Open, he missed due to injury), as the world number one, since next Monday he will regain the throne, regardless of what he is capable of doing Novak Djokovic in Rome. Last year the Murcian was not even in the Italian capital after signing the Spanish double Barcelona-Madrid, but this time the candy of being number one just by going was too greedy to skip it.