CNN
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World number 135 Fábián Marozsán provided what the ATP Tour called the “shock of the season” by upsetting Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets at the Rome Masters on Monday.
The 23-year-old Hungarian stunned second seed Alcaraz 6-3 7-6(4) to reach the fourth round after putting on a near-flawless display in Italy.
Marozsán, playing his first ATP Tour main draw after struggling in qualifying, unsettled the 20-year-old Spaniard throughout with his combination of drop shots and deep groundstrokes.
“I’m very happy, I couldn’t imagine this one,” Marozsán said after his remarkable victory.
“It was my dream last night. Now it’s true that I’m very happy with it. Yesterday we talked about this game, I told you that I’m just going to try to do something special and to win a few games or maybe a set I just beat our [world No. 2.] He’s our best in the sport, so I’m really happy about that.
“I slept well…I had no problems sleeping!” Everything was perfect today. The crowd, the weather, the terrain, so I’m very happy to do my job.
“In the tie-break it was 1-4 and then I won six points in a row. It’s unbelievable. I don’t know what happened during the points. I just tried to come back on every point and do my best.
Marozsán became only the fourth ranked player outside of the top 100 to win his first match against a top-two ranked opponent at an ATP event in the past decade. according to Opta.
Alcaraz is one of the favorites to win the French Open which starts later this month after a great season so far.
The 2022 US Open winner entered the match with a 30-2 record for the 2023 season but was unable to face Marozsán throughout the encounter.
Marozsán broke Alcaraz early in the first set to take a 3-1 lead and managed to hold serve to hold the early advantage.
The second set was much more even, with the pair breaking apart as they ebbed and sank before Marozsán produced a stunning comeback in the tiebreaker – going from 4-1 to 5-4 – to close out the famous victory .
He had already beaten world number 67 Corentin Moutet and world number 39 Jiri Lehečka in the main draw, but the win over Alcaraz is the pinnacle so far.
The Official Rome Masters Twitter account summed up how many people felt after the shocking nature of the result, saying, “Can we pause the game for a bit? I need time to digest what just happened.
Marozsán’s reward for recording the biggest win of his career in an hour and 40 minutes is a fourth-round match against No. 15 seed Borna Ćorić.
