Carlos Alcaraz recovered from a mid-match dip on Wednesday in Paris, where he moved past former foe Fabian Marozsan 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 to record his 20th Roland Garros victory.
The defending champion lost to Marozsan at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome two years ago and was troubled at times by the Hungarian’s deft drop shot under the roof on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
However, with the alarm bells starting to chime after dropping the second set, Alcaraz quickly put to bed any concerns with a dominant performance in the third and fourth sets. The No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings upped his aggression and produced a number of stunning passing shots to become the first player born in the 2000s to earn 20 match wins at Roland Garros.
“It was a great, great match,” Alcaraz said. “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 and I started to play better and better. I had a really good last two sets.”
Alcaraz is aiming to become the first man to successfully defend the title in Paris since Rafael Nadal in 2019-20 and will next play Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard or Damir Dzumhur following his entertaining two-hour, nine-minute win.
Alcaraz now owns a 29-2 record on clay since last May, highlighted by his maiden Roland Garros title and a run to the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Spaniard has won ATP Masters 1000 titles on the surface in 2025 in Monte-Carlos and Rome, where he overcame World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the final and improved to a 7-4 lead in their gripping Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry.
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