Carlos Alcaraz overcomes Fabian Marozsan to reach the next round at Roland Garros, admits he was happy with his brilliant performances against his rival; “It was a great match. I started… See more
Carlos Alcaraz overcame a second set blip to beat Fabian Marozsan in four sets and reach the third round at Roland Garros.
The defending champion continued his title defence despite losing the 2nd set as he was dominant for most of the match.
A valiant effort from Marozsan who displayed some confident tennis at times but was ultimately defeated by Alcaraz.
In the third round Alcaraz will face either big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard or Damir Dzumhur.
The opening 20 minutes was utterly dominant from Alcaraz as he dictated play on the forehand and taking advantage of Marozsan’s limitations on serve.
An early break saw Alcaraz become more confident as he dictates all areas of the court as the Hungarian was struggling to implement his game.
A comfortable opening set was secured by Alcaraz as Marozsan was in disbelief at the level the Spaniard was producing.
However, Marozsan is a star player that has defeated Alcaraz on clay before having beaten the Hungarian in Rome a couple of years ago.
Some erratic play from Alcaraz and some aggressive play from Marozsan saw the Hungarian break in the opening game.
As the set went on, Alcaraz regained his confidence but was strangely inefficient when it mattered most.
Most of the credit should go to the Hungarian as to how he neutralised Alcaraz’s game in the big points as the Spaniard was producing a lot more unforced errors in the second set.
A bold and brave game plan from Marozsan was starting to pay off as he held his serve and his nerve to level the match at one set all.
It was the first set that Alcaraz had lost in this tournament but that didn’t faze the world number two as he continued to raise his level.
An outrageous flick of the wrist left Marozsan in awe and in all truth the Hungarian never really recovered.
A stunning string of games was produced from Alcaraz as the early break set the tone for a 28 minute third set.
In the fourth set Alcaraz once again broke serve early but this time Marozsan refused to lay down as he broke imminently, looking to put up a fight and test Alcaraz’s skillset.
The Hungarian was no test for the Spaniard though as he recovered to produce more breaks of serve and secure his place in the third round.
After the game Alcaraz admitted he was happy with his performance against the talented Marozsan, “It was a great match. I started playing well. In the first set, I had really high confidence,” Alcaraz was quoted by the BBC Sport website as saying.
“In the second set, he started to play much better and he was really aggressive. He didn’t miss at all so it was a little difficult to deal with his game in the second set, but I’m really happy I stayed strong and refreshed myself. In the third set, I started to play better and better which helped me have a really good last two sets.”