Marozsan broke through against Alcaraz... Can he stun the Spaniard again?

ATP Tour/Getty Images

Ten months ago, Fabian Marozsan’s life changed forever.

The Hungarian qualified for the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, a clay-court ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome. That was an accomplishment in itself. Then he upset Corentin Moutet and Jiri Lehecka to reach the third round, where he came up against World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.

“If somebody wants to ask me a few questions or interview, almost always the first or maybe the second question is what happened against Alcaraz,” Marozsan told ATPTour.com. “I went to the tennis court and I just wanted to win a few games against him because he was the No. 1.”

Marzosan did a lot more than that. He caused one of the biggest upsets of the year, stunning Alcaraz 6-3, 7-6(4) behind a fearless display. The Hungarian began the week World No. 135 without an ATP Tour main draw match win and was suddenly a household name.

“He was in good shape, I was a little bit shaky and nervous,” Marozsan said. “I just wanted to win a few games and do something different. I just played my game, I didn’t do anything weird or something like this. I was on the tennis court and focusing on the next point every time. It just happened.”

A lot has changed for the 24-year-old since then. But one thing will be the same Tuesday at the BNP Paribas Open. He will walk on court and stand across the net from Alcaraz.

However, he is no longer a relatively unknown player. At No. 58 in the PIF ATP Rankings, one spot off his career high, Marozsan is a known threat excited to compete on the big stage,

“I’m very happy about the past year,” Marozsan said. “It was fantastic for me and I’m very happy to be here playing in the biggest tournaments.”

The Hungarian’s whole life has led to these moments. When Marozsan was nearly five years old, he began following his father, Janos, to the tennis court to watch him play.

“I was a young kid. I just went with him to the tennis court and picking up the tennis balls was very boring for me,” Marozsan said. “I told him, ‘Dad, look, I want to try to play tennis’. One day he said, ‘Okay let’s try it’.

“I started to play with a small tennis racquet and he started to say how to do the steps, how to turn and how to touch the ball, some things like this. Everything I know today after 20 years, I learned from my father.”

For the first year, Marozsan’s father kept him within the service lines to work on the basics.

“After a few years I started to work with my first coach, I was eight or nine. The first four years I just played with my dad,” Marozsan said. “It sounds like a small joke, but I did everything and I’m here today.”

Marozsan’s father watched tonnes of tennis, “every match almost”. Janos enjoyed hanging out on the sofa and taking in the action. Fabian idolised Rafael Nadal.

“Of course when I spent time with him I couldn’t do anything else, just watching tennis on the TV,” Marozsan said. “We analysed, talked about tennis, what a shot was, everything about this. That’s the reason why I was watching a lot of tennis as a young kid.”

Almost every weekend he would play a small tournament in Hungary. But it was not always easy.

“I was very angry sometimes and was crying on the tennis court when I was a kid. A lot of people told me, ‘Fabian, if you want to be a professional you cannot do this on the tennis court. Look at the top players on the ATP, they play almost without feelings’,” Marozsan recalled. “I was in front of the TV and watching Roger [Federer] and I just saw he was not showing anything.

“I said ‘Okay, let’s try this way without feelings. I’m not going to show anything’… I’m just here with this poker face.”

That “poker face” is something Marozsan began trying to implement aged 14 and seriously focused on at 17. He is now putting that to use on the ATP Tour, on which he is competing against players he watched on television.

“I really liked [Gael] Monfils as well,” Marozsan said. “It’s a little bit strange to talk about this at this moment when I’m walking with these players in the same tournaments. I liked a lot of tennis players, but now I can’t give them huge respect because I have to play against them.”

That was the case for Marozsan in what he called “a huge match” to start his season against Monfils in Auckland. The Hungarian emerged victorious 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-6(4) and then made the third round of the Australian Open behind wins against former World No. 3 Marin Cilic and Francisco Cerundolo.

“I think everything started last year when I played Rome,” Marozsan said. “Everybody is talking about that one.”

The World No. 58 will hope everyone will be talking about another huge win against Alcaraz at Indian Wells Tuesday.