Spain's tennis high-flyer Carlos Alcaraz suffered a sensitive and unexpected defeat a good two weeks before the French Open. The 20-year-old, who will take the lead in the world rankings again next week, surprisingly lost in the 3rd round at the Masters tournament in Rome against the spirited Hungarian qualifier Fabian Marozsan 3: 6, 6: 7 (4: 7).
The 23-year-old Marozsan, ranked 135th in the world, is in the main draw of an ATP tournament in Rome for the first time ever in his career. Regardless of the unexpected defeat, Alcaraz goes into the French Open (from May 28) as a big favorite and wants to succeed his compatriot Rafael Nadal there.
For the 14-time Paris champion, it is still unclear whether he will be able to defend his title at all due to ongoing problems with his hip flexor.
Alcaraz, who recently won the Masters tournament in Madrid by beating Jan-Lennard Struff (Warstein) in the final, will go into the French Open as number one on the seeding list despite his early elimination in the "Eternal City". After the tournament in Rome, the US Open winner will replace 22-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic (Serbia) at the top of the world rankings again.