ROME: Carlos Alcaraz slumped to a third round defeat at the Italian Open by unheralded Hungarian Fabian Marozsan on Monday, just two weeks before he heads into the French Open as top seed.

The 20-year-old Spaniard, who is guaranteed to replace Novak Djokovic as world number one on May 22, had come into the tournament in Rome on the back of wins in Barcelona and Madrid.

But the US Open champion was outplayed by 23-year-old Marozsan, losing 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).

Marozsan, who is ranked 135th in the world, won the final six points of the second-set tie-break to give Alcaraz a wake-up call with the French Open starting in less than a fortnight.

Alcaraz, who was second seed in Rome but in Paris will be top seed at a Grand Slam for the first time, said he required some sustained training to beef up his French Open preparations with the clay-court major beginning on May 28.

“I’m going to rest a little bit, some days off for me,” he said. “I really need some days to reset my mind and be fresh for Roland Garros.

“If I want to go to Paris in good shape, I have to practise, to be better. I’ve been playing so much that I couldn’t practise more than three, four days in a row.”

He admitted he was outplayed by his Hungarian opponent.

“He surprised me a lot, his level was really, really high. I’m sure he’s going to break the top 100 very, very soon.”

Marozsan, who next plays Borna Coric for a place in the quarter-finals, had not won a match on the ATP Tour prior to the tournament — indeed this is the first time he has qualified for the main draw at a tournament on the Tour.

“Everything was perfect today, I was doing my job,” the winner said. “I cannot imagine this win, even if it was my dream last night.”

Marozsan produced 24 winners in a victory which took an hour and three quarters.Meanwhile, third seed Daniil Medvedev needed a fightback to defeat Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, with the winner producing his best career effort at the tournament by reaching the last 16.

It will be the first time since 1994 that no Spaniard has made it to the fourth round at the Foro Italico.In Monday’s other match, sixth seed Andrey Rublev defeated Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6 (10/8), 6-3.

In the women’s draw, Elena Rybakina saw off Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-3 to reach her first claycourt WTA 1000 quarter-final, where she will face either top-ranked Iga Swiatek, the twice defending champion, or Croatia’s Donna Vekic, who saw off Ljudmila Samsonova 2-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, after extending her winning streak in the Italian capital to 13 matches.

Zheng Qinwen earlier beat Chinese compatriot Wang Xiyu 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals while American Madison Keys lost 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 against Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina.

In Sunday’s late match, eighth-ranked Jannik Sinner kept home hopes alive by seeing off Russia’s Alexander Shevchenko 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2023