Carlos Alcaraz achieves impressive clay stat after Roland Garros win, trailing only Nadal and Borg

Carlos Alcaraz took down Fabian Marozsan in four sets during the second round of Roland Garros, punching his ticket to a matchup with Damir Dzumhur in the next round. The young Spanish star didn’t just extend his dominance on clay—he also hit a milestone that puts him in elite company alongside Rafael Nadal and Bjorn Borg.

With a commanding 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over the Hungarian—who previously upset him at the 2023 Italian Open—Alcaraz secured his 20th career win at Roland Garros in just 23 matches.

The only player to hit 20 wins at the French Open faster? Rafael Nadal. The 22-time Grand Slam champion reeled off a historic 20-0 start at Roland Garros and went on to win 31 straight matches at the tournament before his shocking loss to Robin Soderling in 2009.

Even more impressive, Alcaraz, at just 22 years old, now holds the third-highest career win percentage on clay among ATP players who’ve played at least 25 matches. His 98-19 record (83.8%) trails only two all-time greats: Nadal (90.5%) and Borg (86.1%).

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates his victory over Fabian Marozsan of Hungary at the second round of Roland Garros. (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Alcaraz reflects on his victory

While the Spaniard dominated the first, third, and fourth sets against Marozsan, the Hungarian challenged him significantly in the second. Marozsan, who had previously defeated Alcaraz at the 2023 Italian Open, elevated his game to steal the second set before Alcaraz reasserted control to seal the match.

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“It was a great, great match,” Alcaraz said during his on-court interview with Mats Wilander. “I played well in the first set. I had really high confidence. In the second set, he started to play much better, really aggressively, and didn’t miss at all”.

“It was a little bit difficult dealing with his game in the second set, but I was pleased to stay strong and refresh in the third set. I started to play better and better. I had a really good last two sets,” Alcaraz added.