SHANGHAI/WASHINGTON, October 10, 2023 (by Michael Dickens)
Shortly after Fabian Marozsan upset eighth seed Casper Ruud for his second Top-10 victory of the season in an ATP Masters 1000 event at the Rolex Shanghai Masters in China, following an earlier triumph over World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the third round at Rome in his Masters 1000 debut, he was asked how he managed to keep his cool in the heat of battle against more established players.
The 91st-ranked Marozsan, a native of Budapest, Hungary, who beat the World No. 9 Ruud of Norway, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4, Tuesday afternoon to advance to his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal, replied: “It’s just about playing tennis. Carlos is a great player, he [was] the No. 1 player in the world, so they are big names. I’m just happy to play here in the biggest tournaments on the ATP Tour. I’m feeling really good here.”
Quarter-Finalist! 🤩
Fabian Marozsan stuns Ruud 7-6 3-6 6-4 to make the final 8 in Shanghai #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/1FDbt70zat
— Rolex Shanghai Masters (@SH_RolexMasters) October 10, 2023
Through his four Shanghai victories at the Qi Zhong Tennis Center, against Arthur Rinderknech, No. 11 seed Alex de Minaur, Dusan Lajovic and Ruud, Marozsan has dropped just one set. He held his nerves in check during a first-set tie-break against Ruud and recovered nicely in the third set after dipping in the middle of the two-hour, 39-minute fourth-round tussle. Marozsan, who earlier this year won a pair of Challenger Tour tournaments on clay in Turkey and Italy, is the second-lowest ranked player remaining in the draw ahead of No. 130 Diego Schwartzman of Argentina.
“I’m very happy to beat Casper,” said Marozsan, who will meet No. 16 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in the last eight on Thursday. “He’s a top-seeded player here in Shanghai. I just started good. I played one of my best matches in Shanghai. I was just happy to win the first set. Of course, the second set was not easy, he started to play much better, and the third set was also a tough one. I’m really happy to beat him here.”
The 17th-ranked Hurkacz held off No. 60 Zhang Zhizhen of China, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 7-6 (4), in two hours and 38 minutes, whose finish stretched past midnight. The Polish star fired 16 aces, struck 48 winners and won 24 of 30 net exchanges. He outpointed the popular Chinese favorite 113-99.
“Zhang was playing some really amazing tennis. It was a battle, we were both giving our all out there and leaving everything [on the court],” Hurkacz said in an on-court interview afterward. “Hopefully, the fans enjoyed that match because I think it was really high level.”
Hubi handles the heat 🔥@HubertHurkacz is through to the #RolexShanghaiMasters Quarter-Finals with a 7-6 4-6 7-6 win over hometown hero Zhang! 👏 pic.twitter.com/KgsGwPu7h1
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 10, 2023
Korda, Shelton advance to setup an all-American showdown
Meanwhile, 26th-seeded American Sebastian Korda backed up his earlier upset of World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev – the biggest win of his career – by scoring a 7-5, 7-6 (6) win over No. 21 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina in an hour and 38 minutes. The victory in their first meeting lifted Korda into his second career Masters 1000 quarterfinal.
Although Korda was unable to close out the fourth-round match leading 5-2 in the second set, he rallied nicely in the tie-break by coming from 2-5 down to win six of the final seven points.
“I’m very happy,” Korda, who has reached a new career-high live ranking of No. 23, expressed in his post-match, on-court interview. “I served for it in the second set, didn’t play my best game, but he really raised his level and played some incredible tennis. I’m just super happy with the way I played in the tie-break. I stayed calm when he was a couple of mini-breaks up and I’m just happy with how I played overall.”
Into The Korda-Finals! 🤗@Sebikorda01 defeats Cerundolo 7-5 7-6 to secure his place in the #RolexShanghaiMasters QFs
— Rolex Shanghai Masters (@SH_RolexMasters) October 10, 2023
Next, Korda will take on fellow American Ben Shelton for the first time on Tour after the 19th seed ended the undefeated run in China by World No. 4 Jannik Sinner of Italy, who last week won the ATP 500 China Open title in Beijing. Shelton recovered from a set down to prevail over the sixth-seeded Sinner, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), in two hours and 30 minutes to reach his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal.
The big-serving, 21-year-old Floridian hit 15 aces and struck 34 winners against Sinner in their first-time meeting. He outpointed the Italian 101-97 – including winning the last three points of the final-set tie-break – in earning his third Top-10 triumph and the biggest win by ranking of his young career.
“This is a pretty crazy atmosphere,” Shelton said of his first visit to China in his on-court interview, beaming a big smile. “To think that a year and a half ago I was in college and a year ago playing Challengers. Now, I am on Center Court in Shanghai with the crowd singing ‘Happy Birthday.’ It is one of those pinch me moments.”
Bringing out the shovel! 😱@BenShelton #RolexShanghaiMasters
— Rolex Shanghai Masters (@SH_RolexMasters) October 10, 2023
Shelton’s good fortune prevented Sinner from winning his 20th match since the start of July ans advancing to a fifth Masters 1000 quarterfinal of the season, including his first title at this level in Toronto. By winning his opening match in Shanghai over Marcos Giron, Sinner qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time.
“I had a lot of belief in my ability to serve and hang tough and to make it deep in sets,” added Shelton, who celebrated his 21st birthday on Monday and was serenaded by fans during his interview. “I trusted my fitness levels being able to go the distance. That gave me a lot of confidence. My serve wasn’t working that well in the first set, I felt he was really on top of me. I really started to find my groove and had one of my best serving days in the second and third sets.”
By the numbers
Fabian Marozsan has become the first Hungarian to reach the quarterfinals in an ATP Masters 1000 tournament since 1990 with his upset victory over World No. 9 Casper Ruud of Norway.
“Quotable …”
“I am addicted to playing on the big stages. I have not had a normal upbringing or usual first year on the Tour. It has been a little bit backwards but I am trying to keep going and improving each week.”
– Ben Shelton of the United States, after upsetting World No. 4 Jannik Sinner of Italy in the fourth round to reach his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal after having already reached two major quarterfinals earlier this season.
Quarter-Finals Calling! ☎️@BenShelton #RolexShanghaiMasters
— Rolex Shanghai Masters (@SH_RolexMasters) October 10, 2023
