Fabian Marozsan, the Masters 1,000 specialist
Fabian Marozsan rose to prominence last year in Rome with victory over Carlos Alcaraz, and he will play his second Masters 1,000 quarter-final in Miami
© Julien Nouet / Tennis Majors
As well as a certain physical resemblance to the French cyclist Romain Bardet, Fabian Marozsan also possesses a strange statistic for player so young – he has the best winning percentage in Masters 1,000 events. At least, he does among those who have played more than ten matches at this level since their inception in 1990.
At 82.3%, he is ahead of both Rafael Nadal (82.2%) and Novak Djokovic (81.1%).
The Hungarian qualified for his second quarter-final in four Masters 1,000 events played, having beaten De Minaur in Miami for another top-10 win. His other two experiences in the ATP Tour’s Premium events? A round of 16 in Rome last year, on his big debut, causing a huge upset against Carlos Alcaraz as a qualifier; and a recent round of 16 in Indian Wells, where he fell victim to the Spaniard’s revenge.
Incidentally, in California, Alcaraz was the first top-10 player to beat Marozsan in his career. The Hungarian now has four wins in five matches against top-10 players, after beating Holger Rune and Alex de Minaur on his way to the last eight in Miami. Next up will be Alexander Zverev on Thursday at Hard Rock Stadium.
IF YOU HAD TOLD ME IN MARCH 2023 THAT A YEAR LATER I WOULD HAVE DONE ALL THIS, I WOULDN’T HAVE BELIEVED IT. AT THE TIME, I DIDN’T BELIEVE IN MYSELF ANYMORE, I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO.
Fabian Marozsan
“If you had told me, in March 2023, that a year later I would have done all this, I wouldn’t have believed it,” he told us in Miami in the wake of his win over De Minaur.
“At the time, I was in a tough spot mentally. However, I had started the month of March well by winning a Challenger in Turkey and then following up with a semi-final at home in Hungary.
“But after that, I started to play really badly and get into a spiral of defeats. I didn’t believe in myself anymore, I didn’t know what to do.
“Eventually, I changed my team and started working with my current coach. I started to train better, to play better and it all happened all of a sudden, in Rome. From there, things fell into place.”
Indeed they did. Marozsan entered the top 100 in June after a title at the Perugia Challenger, before breaking into the top 50 last week. Whatever happens to him now in Miami, he’ll be in the top 40 next Monday.
This is a progression that the player, now Hungarian No 1 ahead of Marton Fucsovics, welcomes with a mixture of insouciance and disbelief that contribute to his charm. After beating Holger Rune he said he didn’t realise what had happened. This did not prevent him from brilliantly passing the always tricky test of facing Alexei Popyrin, before going on to play against De Minaur in the last 16.
“It’s my first in Miami, I’m making the most of every match and I’m happy to be able to string together these types of victories,” he said, happy with this sudden milestone, at the age of only 24, after spending the first five years of his career on the Future circuit.
“You know, I was already very happy to be able to play on the Challenger circuit, it’s a different quality of tournaments compared to the Futures.
“In the end, I don’t really know what ‘clicked’ for me. Probably the work, more confidence in myself and my great relationship with my new coach. He didn’t change my tennis, he just pushed me to give 100% in everything I do, on and off the court. Let’s just say he personalized my training more.”
Despite his favourable statistics and impeccable state of mind, Marozsan will not be the favourite in his quarter-final against Zverev, who has still not lost a set since the start of his tournament in Miami.
But it would be a mistake to write off this ever-progressing Hungarian.
