Marozsan Stuns Alcaraz At Rome Masters; Russians Advance; Djokovic v Norrie Tues.

The rains returned to Rome but not before another shocker hit the draw. Today, it was world No. 1 suffering one of the biggest upsets in recent memory going down to the 135th-ranked qualifier Fabian Marozsan 6-3, 7-6(7-4).

“It’s not easy to say something, I’m very, very happy,” said Marozsan to the ATP. “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 [World No. 2].”

The 23-year-old Marozson qualified into his very first main draw at the ATP level, and so far the Hungarian has made the most it.

A massive underdog, Marozson weathered early break points and then got on a roll with his serve and forehand and dropshot and watched Alcaraz unravel.

Marozson would miss break chances in an Alcaraz 0-40 game at 2-all, but broke through at 4-3. However, Alcaraz rebounded nicely and Marozson finally felt the pressure.

In the breaker, it was Alcaraz jumping out in front and in command 4-1 but inexplicably Morazsan would win six straight points to finish off the upset!

The qualifier finished winning 15 of 18 points on drop shots. He was ahead 24-12 in winners and had jus 13 unforced errors to Alcaraz’s 24. He also had seven love holds in the match.

“Everything was perfect today,” added Marozsan. “The crowd, the weather, the court. I’m just happy I’m doing my job.

“I think in the tie-break it was 1-4 and I won six points in a row. It’s amazing, I don’t know what happened during the points, I just tried to hit back every ball and tried to do my best. I tried to find out how to win points against him in that tough situation, and it just happened. I don’t know what to say.”

Alcaraz suffered just his third loss of the year and first in straight sets.

“I tried to fight until the last ball, but it wasn’t enough,” the Spaniard said. “Of course, in the second set, it was close. I had my chances at 6-5, 15-30. I would say I could win that set, except little things happened. Of course, he deserves the win. If he plays at that level, he’s going to surprise more than one.”

Daniil Medvedev moved on rallying from a set down to defeat Bernabe Zapata Miralles 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

“I managed to play better. Put more balls in the court and serve better,” Medvedev said to the ATP. “That is the thing about clay for me. At the beginning of the match, you can’t just hit four aces to get your game going. A few double faults and a few missed shots and the first set was over.

“I started playing better, I knew I had to continue. It is my third win this season on clay coming from a set down, so I knew I could do it. I am definitely playing my best tennis on clay right now. I have never played so well in Rome or in Madrid. I am feeling great.”

His countryman, Andrey Rublev, also advanced topping 7th-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6(10-8), 6-3. No. 15 Borna Coric bested also beat Roberto Carballes Baena 7-6(7-3), 6-1 and Yannick Hanfmann sent out Marco Cecchinato in a match that went the distance 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Lorenzo Musetti was up a break 2-1 in the third against Frances Tiafoe when the rains hits. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Lorenzo Sonego was also suspended with the Greek up a set. Alexander Zverev and J.J. Wolf were also suspended.

On tomorrow, the fourth round gets underway with No. 1 Novak Djokovic facing No. 13 Cameron Norrie. Djokovic leads 2-0 having won their 2022 Wimbledon semifinal.

No. 4 Casper Ruud squares off against Laslo Djere, Rublev meets Hanfmann, No. 7 Holger Rune collides with Alexei Popyrin and No. 8 Jannik Sinner faces No. 24 Francisco Cerundolo.

TUESDAY ROME MASTERS SCHEDULE
CENTER COURT
Starting At: 11:00 am
ATP Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB) [1] vs Cameron NORRIE (GBR) [13]
Not Before 12:30 pm
ATP Stefanos TSITSIPAS (GRE) [5] vs Lorenzo SONEGO (ITA)TBF 6/3 0/0
Not Before 1:30 PM
WTA Iga Swiatek (POL) [1] vs Donna Vekic (CRO) [21]
ATP Francisco CERUNDOLO (ARG) [24] vs Jannik SINNER (ITA) [8]

Not Before 7:00 PM
WTA Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA) [12] vs Anhelina Kalinina (UKR) [30]
ATP Stefanos TSITSIPAS (GRE) [5] or Lorenzo SONEGO (ITA) vs Lorenzo MUSETTI (ITA) [18] or Frances TIAFOE (USA) [12]

GRAND STAND ARENA
Starting At: 11:00 am
ATP [Q] Alexei POPYRIN (AUS) vs Holger RUNE (DEN) [7]

Not Before 12:30 pm
ATP Lorenzo MUSETTI (ITA) [18] vs Frances TIAFOE (USA) [12] 5/7 6/4 2/1
ATP Casper RUUD (NOR) [4] vs Laslo DJERE (SRB)
ATP Andrey RUBLEV [6] vs [Q] Yannick HANFMANN (GER)
ATP J.J. WOLF (USA) or Alexander ZVEREV (GER) [19] vs Daniil MEDVEDEV [3]

Not Before 7:00 pm
ATP Borna CORIC (CRO) [15] vs [Q] Fabian MAROZSAN (HUN)

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