Carlos Alcaraz's defeat against Fabian Marozsan "most shocking" in last 10 years, says tennis journalist

Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg labeled Carlos Alcaraz's loss to a 135th-ranked player in the third round of the 2023 Italian Open as the "most shocking" result in the last ten years.

23-year-old Fabian Marozsan from Hungary became just the third player after Cameron Norrie and Jannik Sinner to beat the Spaniard this season. Alcaraz was defeated 6-3, 7-6(4) in an hour and 40 minutes on Monday, May 15. He now holds a 30-3 record this year, having won four titles — in Argentina, Indian Wells, Barcelona, and Madrid.

The tennis world expressed its disbelief at the upset, with Rothenberg joining the fray. He took to social media to state that it was the most unexpected result in a very long time.

"Truly one of the most shocking results of the decade, if not the century," Rothenberg tweeted.

Marozsan broke the second seed twice and hit 30 winners and seven unforced errors, compared to 15 winners and eight unforced errors from the four-time Masters 1000 champion. The Hungarian later revealed that he idolized Rafael Nadal during his childhood particularly because of his mental strength and fighting spirit.

After winning the 2023 Madrid Open earlier this month, World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz just needed to turn up and play a match in Rome to replace Novak Djokovic as the top-ranked player in the ATP rankings. He downed compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the second round to make sure that he enters the 2023 French Open as the No. 1 seed.

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Carlos Alcaraz hopes for strong return at French Open 2023

Carlos Alcaraz

In a press conference after his defeat to World No. 135 Fabian Marozsan, Carlos Alcaraz stated that he needed to rest for a while before starting his preparations for the 2023 French Open.

"Well, I'm going to rest little bit, some days off for me," Alcaraz said. "I really need some days to reset my mind a little bit, to be fresh for Roland Garros. Of course, to practice the that's not secret. You have to practice. If I want to do a good result in Paris, if I want to go to Paris in a good shape, I have to practice, to be better.

The Spaniard stated that he has been playing a lot of tennis since the start of the year.

"I couldn't practice more than three, four days in a row. I've been playing so much. It's going to be really helpful for me to have days at home practicing and getting ready for Roland Garros," he added.

Alcaraz reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros last year, where he lost to Alexander Zverev in four sets.