Carlos Alcaraz warns his next rival at Roland Garros, Fabian Marozsan: ‘It will be a battle’

Carlos Alcaraz opened his French Open title defense with a straight-sets victory over Giulio Zeppieri in the first round. Now, the World No. 2 is set to take on Fabian Marozsan this Wednesday, and he made his expectations for the match clear.

“Of course I study my opponents a bit and I know that he likes to hit a lot of drop shots,” Alcaraz said in his post-match press conference at Roland Garros. “I know how he plays, I’ll have to be ready for that and try to put him under pressure if he tries it. I guess it will be a battle of drop shots, but we’ll see. It’ll be interesting.”

Carlos has faced Marozsan twice before. Their most recent meeting came in the Round of 16 at last year’s Indian Wells Masters 1000, where Alcaraz cruised to a straight-sets win. However, the first encounter between the two went to the Hungarian, who defeated Alcaraz in the Round of 32 at the 2023 Rome Open.

“I’ve lost to him before, so I need to be very prepared for his game, which is aggressive and involves a lot of drop shots,” the Spanish star recalled. “I have to stay alert, and we’ll see who does them better… he won’t be able to lose focus either.”

Fabian Marozsan of Hungary

Alcaraz explains the challenge of the drop shot

After repeatedly highlighting Fabian Marozsan’s style of play, Carlos Alcaraz offered a deeper analysis. “The drop shot isn’t an easy shot,” he said. “It’s hard to do it well because there’s always the risk of not hitting the ball cleanly, which means it could end up being an easy ball for your opponent.”

see also

Alcaraz sets the record straight on comparing his rivalry with Sinner to Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer

He also shared insight into how he approaches that shot in particular. “What I always try to do is watch when my opponent is far from the baseline—an ideal time for a drop shot. If they get to the ball, then I have a few options: the lob or the passing shot. Normally, the drop shot comes naturally to me—it’s something I feel in the moment, not something I plan in my head,” Carlos explained.

Marozsan has a big opportunity ahead

Fabian Marozsan is currently ranked No. 56 in the world and reached a career-high of World No. 36 last year. His best result this season came at the Bavarian Open, where he reached the semifinals before falling to Alexander Zverev.

At Roland Garros, Marozsan began his campaign with a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 win over Luca Nardi. Now, he faces a major test against one of the sport’s elite players. When asked about facing Alcaraz, Fabian reflected on his win over him in Rome 2023. “My goal in that tournament was just to win a qualifying match, and I found myself in the round of 16. I was just hoping to win a few games, and I managed to beat Carlos,” he said.

The second-round clash between Alcaraz and Marozsan will take place Wednesday morning on Court Philippe Chatrier. The winner will go on to face either Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard or Damir Dzumhur in the Round of 32.