Carlos Alcaraz suffers shock defeat at Rome Masters: when will he play next?

After winning the Madrid Open, Carlos Alcaraz’s participation in the Rome Masters ensured he would take the world number one spot from Novak Djokovic following the conclusion of the tournament in Italy. However, he won’t be extending his advantage over the Serb at the top of the rankings as much as he would’ve liked after suffering a shock defeat in the third round at the hands of qualifier Fabian Marozsan.

Where is Fabian Marozsan in the ATP rankings?

The 23 year-old Hungarian is ranked all the way down at number 135 in the world, marking the first time Alcaraz has lost to a player outside of the top 100 since November 2021, when he lost to Frenchman Hugo Gaston, then the world’s 103rd best player, in the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters. Austrian Alexander Erler (339th) is the only player ranked lower than Marozsan to have beaten the Spaniard since he made his ATP Tour debut in February 2020.

Alcaraz at a loss to explain Marozsan defeat

After losing in straights sets (3-6, 6-7), Alcaraz was at a loss to explain what had happened on court, where his 13 winners were outdone by 24 unforced errors:

“I made a lot of mistakes. [Coach) Juan Carlos [Ferrero) told me to get into more rallies and as hard as I tried, there were times where I didn’t know what was going on and why I was getting it wrong”.

Praise for Marozsan

The current US Open champion was, however, keen to praise his opponent for his performance, which he admitted took him by surprise:

“He played well, he kept his level of play and intensity up throughout the match. When you come from the Challenger Tour, it’s hard to keep that intensity up for the whole match but he managed it.

“I didn’t know much about him before the match. He really surprised me. He played at a really, really high level. I’m sure he’ll break into the top 100 really, really soon. Of course, he deserved to win. If he keeps playing at this level, he’ll surprise a few more”.

When is Alcaraz next in action?

The Geneva Open and the Lyon Open are the next two scheduled events on the ATP Tour but Alcaraz isn’t expected to be back in action until the French Open, the second Grand Slam of the year, gets underway in Paris on 29 May. And the Murcia native is looking forward to a little bit of time away from the limelight before he goes in search of his second major.

“I’m going to rest a little. I need a few days to mentally recharge and be fresh for Roland Garros. Of course, I’ll have to train. If I want to be in top form for Paris, I need to train and be better. I’ve not been able to train for more than three or four days in a row in the last few months. I’ve been playing a lot. It’s going to be really useful for me to train a home and get ready for Roland Garros”.