(Tennis news) Carlos Alcaraz, who will overtake Novak Djokovic to become world number 1 next Monday was beaten 6-3 7-6 (7-4) by Hungarian qualifier Fabian Marozsan, resulting in his second defeat in 22 games on clay this year. Marozsan had never defeated a top 100 player before arriving in Rome or played in the main draw of an ATP event but has now progressed into the last 16 after ending Alcaraz’s 12 game winning streak.

Alcaraz has been in really good form this season, winning the Barcelona and Madrid Open and was undoubtedly surprised by the unexpected result. He said “He surprised me a lot. His level was really, really high. I’m sure he’s going to break the top 100 very, very soon. I didn’t play really, really well obviously. I couldn’t follow his level. He was at the same level the whole match. That is very, very difficult. He deserves the win. If he plays at that level, he’s going to surprise more than one (player).”

Alcaraz was in for a rude awakening right from the get go as his 23 year old opponent displayed incredible pace in his forehand shots. Alcaraz managed to save a breakpoint at 5-5 in the second set and led 4-1 in the tie-break but Marozsan managed to take six points in a row to secure the victory. The Hungarian qualifier will now take on Borna Coric in round four. In an interview with Amazon Prime Video, Morozsan said “I’m very, very happy. I couldn’t imagine this. It was my dream last night. I just beat the world No 1, he’s the best in our sport. Everything was perfect.”

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