Carlos Alcaraz says he needs to 'reset his mind' ahead of French Open after shock defeat to Fabian Marozsan in Rome
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ByEurosport
Updated 15/05/2023 at 17:17 GMT
Carlos Alcaraz enters the French Open this month as the top seed, but his preparations have been dealt a blow after exiting the Italian Open to world No. 135 Fabian Marozsan in straight sets at the third round stage. Following the shock defeat, Alcaraz believes he has been playing too much and needs to rest before Roland Garros where he is one of the frontrunners to win the Grand Slam.
'He surprised me a lot!' - Alcaraz on shock exit at the Italian Open
Carlos Alcaraz says that he needs to "reset" ahead of the French Open after suffering a shock defeat to Hungarian qualifier Fabian Marozsan at the Italian Open.
World No. 135 Marozsan, who is playing in the first ATP main draw event of his career, produced one of the biggest upsets in recent tennis history by beating the No. 2 seed - who has returned to No. 1 in the ATP rankings - 6-3 7-6(4).
But following his abrupt exit in Rome, Alcaraz says he will not be competing in ATP events in Geneva or Lyon ahead of the French Open, which gets underway on May 28, as he feels he has been "playing so much".
"I really need some days to reset my mind a little bit, to being fresh for Roland Garros," he told reporters.
"Of course, to practise, that’s not secret. You have to practise. If you want to do a good result in Paris, if I want to go to Paris in a good shape, I have to practise, to be better.
"I couldn’t practise more than three, four days in a row. I’ve been playing so much.
"It’s going to be really helpful for me to have days at home practising and getting ready [for] Roland Garros."
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'I just beat the best' says Marozsan after upsetting Alcaraz at Italian Open
Alcaraz also admitted he was "surprised" by the quality of his opponent who was particularly dangerous with his forehand and use of drop shots.
"I didn’t watch too much about him before the match," the 20-year-old said.
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Highlights: Alcaraz's 12-match winning streak ends with loss to qualifier Fabian Marozsan in Rome
"I just follow a lot of results about him in the challengers and stuff. He did well. He was doing well before here.
"Of course, he surprise me a lot. I mean, his level was really, really high. Yeah, I’m sure he’s going to break the top 100 very, very soon. It was surprising for me."
Alcaraz also believes he simply did not play well enough to take the second set and overcome the 23-year-old.
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'Hi guys, my name is Fabian Marozsan' - Alaracz-slayer introduces himself to reporters
He said: "I didn’t play really, really well obviously. But, of course, he plays his match, he plays at a really high level. I couldn’t follow his level. I mean, he was at the same level the whole match. That is very, very difficult.
"I try to fight until the last ball, but it wasn’t enough. Of course, in the second set, it was close. I had my chances at 6-5, 15-30. I would say I could win that set, except little things happen."
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