Alcaraz & Marozsan ready for battle of the drop shots

Carlos Alcaraz hit 15 drop shots in his first-round win over Giulio Zeppieri at Roland Garros, while Fabian Marozsan reeled off 13 to defeat Luca Nardi in his opener at the season’s second major. The Spaniard and Hungarian will now be on opposite sides of the net on Wednesday.

What can fans expect from the encounter? There is little doubt. It will be the battle of the drop shots.

“Of course I study my opponents a bit and I know that he really likes drop shots,” said Alcaraz, No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings. “I’ll have to be ready for that, and to pressure him if he tries to do it. I guess it’ll be a drop shot battle, but we’ll see. It’ll be interesting.

“I’ve lost a match to him previously and I have to be well prepared for his game, which is attacking and with a lot of drop shots. I have to be alert and we’ll see who does them better.

“The drop shot is not an easy shot. It’s difficult to do, because there’s always a risk you won’t make the right contact with the ball, which means your opponent gets an easy shot. What I always try to do is see when my opponent is furthest from the baseline, which is the ideal situation for a drop shot. In the event that he gets to that ball I have several options, a lob or a pass. Normally a drop shot is unplanned, something I feel inside. It’s not premeditated.”

Alcaraz and Marozsan will break their 1-1 tie in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. The Spaniard triumphed in their most recent outing, at Indian Wells last year. But in 2023, Marozsan stunned Alcaraz in Rome. The Hungarian won the third-round encounter in straight sets, catching the Murcia native off guard.

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“My goal in that tournament was to win one match in qualifying and I ended up reaching the last sixteen,” Marozsan recalled. “I was only thinking of winning a few games and I managed to beat Carlos.”

The four-time major champion Alcaraz is bidding to defend his Roland Garros title, but first he will be focused on the task at hand. He will need to outfox Marozsan in the drop shot showdown.

Editor's Note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es.