ROME/WASHINGTON, May 17, 2023 (by Michael Dickens)

Imagine you’re Fabian Marozsan, a likeable 23-year-old Hungarian with no tour-level wins before this week. Then, come Monday afternoon, you will beat Carlos Alcaraz, the man who will be the top seeded player at this year’s French Open by virtue of being ranked the No. 1 player in the world.

No tall tale, it’s a true story and it’s become the talk of Foro Italico. In the third round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, before a packed crowd on Campo Centrale, the mother of all upsets happened. The 135th-ranked qualifier Marozsan, took out Alcaraz, who arrived in the Italian capital city after recently winning titles on clay in Barcelona and Madrid, in straight sets.

While no one could have scripted the outcome in advance, the Budapest-born resident of Érd rose to the occasion and won 6-3, 7-6 (4) in an economical one hour and 40 minutes. Marozsan, who showed no signs of nerves, won the final six points of the match after trailing 4-1 in the second-set tie-break to clinch the upset of the tournament. It snapped Alcaraz’s 12-match winning streak.

First career ATP Tour main draw in Rome ✔️
The first Hungarian male to reach the last 16 in 42 years 🇭🇺
Defeats World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz 🤯

This is your moment, Fabian Marozsan ⭐️@InteBNLdItalia | #IBI23 pic.twitter.com/8YkuOjSHRA

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 15, 2023

“It’s not easy to say something,” the soft-spoken Marozsan said during an on-court interview after winning his third-round match. “I’m very happy. I can’t imagine this one. It was my dream last night, but it’s true! I’m very happy. Yesterday, we spoke about this match and I said I’d just try to do something special to try and win a few games, maybe a set. I just beat the world No. 1; he’s our best in the sport so I’m really happy about this.”

The clean-hitting Marozsan won 78 percent of his service points, hitting 24 winners while making just 13 unforced errors against Alcaraz (30-3), who committed 24 unforced errors and hit just 12 winners. He outpointed the recently-turned 20-year-old Spaniard, 79-58, thanks to the depth of his groundstrokes, which didn’t allow Alcaraz many opportunities to take control of rallies.

“Of course, he surprised me a lot,” Alcaraz said in his post-match press conference. “I mean, his level was really, really high. I’m sure he’s going to break the Top 100 very, very soon. It was surprising for me.”

Gracious in defeat, @carlosalcaraz 🫡👏@InteBNLdItalia | #IBI23 pic.twitter.com/uCAN21AiRR

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 16, 2023

While the World No. 2 Alcaraz had already assured himself of returning to No. 1 in the ATP Rankings, surpassing Rome top seed Novak Djokovic, Marozsan has merely been enjoying a fairytale of an experience in his first ATP Masters 1000 main draw that has included a pair of wins in qualifying followed by twin three-set victories over Corentin Moutet of France and 32nd seed Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic that advanced him to face Alcaraz.

Marozsan began quickly by taking a 5-2 lead against Alcaraz, who found himself having to play catch up in the second set. It didn’t get much better for the reigning US Open champion. He committed back-to-back forehand errors at the conclusion that abruptly ended the match and left the crowd stunned. After applauding Alcaraz as he left the court, they celebrated Marozsan’s triumph, which elevated him to No. 114 in the live rankings.

“It’s amazing. I don’t know what happened during the point; I just tried to hit back every ball and tried to do my best,” Marozsan said. “I tried to find something, how I can win points against him in this tough situation, and it just happened. I don’t know what to say.

“Everything was perfect today. The crowd, the weather, the courts. I’m just happy to be doing my job.”

Later, in his post-match press conference, Marozsan was asked if his life would change after beating Alcaraz. He said:  “I don’t think so because I just won one more match. I mean, I’m the same person. Yeah, I mean, it’s okay. I think it’s not going to change because I’m not that kind of guy who wants to do something more, something like this. I don’t think so.”

A postscript: Marozsan’s dream run in Rome ended in the early hours of Wednesday morning as he lost his fourth-round match against No. 15 seed Borna Cornic of Croatia, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, in two hours and eight minutes. Marozsan hit 30 winners to 23 unforced errors. He was outpointed 87-84.

Longest WTA match of the year

No. 30 seed Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine rallied to beat No. 12 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (6), 6-3 in the longest match of the season – three hours and 41 minutes – to reach her first WTA 1000 semifinal in Rome Tuesday evening. The two competitors played a total of 247 points and by the end, Kalinina finished ahead 126-121.

3 hours and 41 minutes 🙌

An incredible match by both players but it’s Anhelina Kalinina who prevails in the end.#IBI23 pic.twitter.com/vkGheYExjC

— wta (@WTA) May 16, 2023

Sousa calls it a career after Oeiras defeat

In the last match of his career, Portugal’s Pedro Sousa lost to Ulises Blach of the United States, 2-6, 6-7 (4) in the first round of ATP Challenger Tour Oeiras 4 Open in Oeiras, Portugal. The 34-year-old Sousa, ranked 362nd, was once ranked inside the Top 100 in February 2019 at World No. 99. Three years ago, the Lisbon native made his only ATP Tour final in Buenos Aires after entering the event as a lucky loser. On the Challenger Tour, Sousa won eight titles and collected more than 200 match wins.

Pedro Sousa’s career is over.

Out in Oeiras 4 CH R1 to Ulisses Blanch, 6-3, 7-6(4). pic.twitter.com/xhlyjUF7hy

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) May 16, 2023

Christopher Clarey, dean of American tennis writers, leaves New York Times

After more than 30 years of covering tennis and global sports for The New York Times and its Paris-based sister publication, The International Herald Tribune, tennis correspondent Christopher Clarey is leaving the Times “of my own accord and with nothing but gratitude to become a full-time author.”

Clarey wrote on Twitter Tuesday: “The international success of The Master, my best-selling biography of Roger Federer, has created this opportunity and I’m already at work on my next book, The Warrior, a biography of Rafael Nadal to be published in 2024 by Twelve Books, which did such a fine job with The Master.”

In addition to the Nadal project, Clarey is also beginning a Substack newsletter, “Tennis and Beyond,” where he plans to regularly write new material and host chats.

Big news for me:

After more than 30 years of covering #tennis & global sports for The New York Times & its Paris-based sister publication The International Herald Tribune, I am leaving the @nytimes staff of my own accord & with nothing but gratitude to become a full-time author

— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) May 16, 2023

Tennis Channel celebrates 20th anniversary

On Monday, U.S.-based Tennis Channel celebrated its 20th anniversary after debuting on the airwaves on May 15, 2003.

ICYMI: On Monday, @TennisChannel celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Since it first hit the airwaves on 5/15/2003, the rally that takes place between observation and participation has helped create a very deep and powerful level of engagement.

To 20 more 🎂 https://t.co/9r2fG8wd2y

— TENNIS (@Tennis) May 16, 2023

What they’re saying

“He’s one of the greatest of all time” 🐐

💬 @holgerrune2003 can’t wait to lock horns with @DjokerNole again! @InteBNLdItalia | #IBI23 pic.twitter.com/W4qrJD60k8

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 16, 2023

Passing shots

On Tuesday, multiple sources reported that Australia’s Nick Kyrgios officially withdrew from the French Open, an event he has not appeared in since 2017. The Australian has been recovering from knee surgery, which has kept him off the ATP Tour this year.

Kyrgios underwent knee surgery after withdrawing from the Australian Open in January and hopes to make his comeback next month during the grass court swing. He played his last official tour match in October 2022.

Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from the 2023 French Open due to the same knee injury which ruled him out of January’s Australian Open 🎾❌

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 16, 2023

By the numbers

Before Monday’s upset of World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz by No. 135 Fabian Marozsan, there have been seven other upsets involving ATP No. 1 or No. 2 opponents by a player ranked outside the Top 100. The most recent came last year in Dubai as then-No. 123 Jiri Vesely beat No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

“Quotable …”

“I tried to fight until the last ball, but it wasn’t enough. … Of course, he deserves the win. If he plays at that level, he’s going to surprise more than one.”

– World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain during his post-match press conference following his loss to Fabian Marozsan.