Morozsan, from Hungary, takes out Alcaraz in 2 sets in the biggest upset of the year thus far, at the very least. Alcaraz was a beyond massive favorite, with an implied winning percentage of 99.1% going into the match. Morozsan just outhit him, particularly off the forehand. He had Sinner like pop on it, with a better serve than Sinner, and better drop shots. He had several clean winners, which you hardly ever see against the top shelf court coverage of Alcaraz.
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I saw some highlights. Marozsan is bullet quick around the court and very handy on both wings. Some of his backhands down the line were exceptional. Odd looking serve but it's effective enough for sure. He seemed confident right from the start...and unfazed. What an amazing win.
Seems like the game has greater depth of late...and belief. The trouble with the Big 3 is they have stifled belief for so long. Looks like that is going to change now.StottyComment
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Cerundolo looking like a legitimate FO dark horse vs Sinner today.Comment
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Now Sinner is out. "Next Big 3" looking (for a moment at least) more like "The Lost Generation" of Dimitrov et al.
Rune vs Djokovic could be hot, tho.Comment
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Watched last night. Great game by the underdog. He was NOT red-lining IMHO, he simply was hitting the ball a lot better & had the right tactics -- hit deep and or wide against Alcaraz's forehand then close to the backhand. Marozsan's inside-in forehand was flawless. That's how Sinner and Seb Korda have beaten Alcaraz -- play him as if he's Rafa despite being right-handed. Not easy; Ruud tried the same thing in USO final and fell short
I hope Marozsan can keep it rolling like Struff did in Madrid.
Whenever there is a huge upset one take is "Did upstart win it? Or did the star lose it?" I think I can argue either case.
1) Marozsan Won It
Hungarian's forehand was the offensive weapon of the match. Flat out.
Not only did Marozsan cross-court forehand draw constant errors from Alcaraz, it helped him complete dominated court position. Marozsan hit almost 50% more forehands than Alcaraz (90 - 66), who loves to run around his backhand. Putting it another way, Alcaraz hit far more backhands than forehands -- 81 to 66. Bizarre.
Marozsan went for the drop shot early and first, taking the initiative. Had 4 outright winners on drop shots, vs zero, nil, nada from the Alcaraz, the re-inventor of the drop shot.
In fact, it was Marozsan who "went for" something first throughout the match -- whether it was hitting a drop shot on his first swing after a serve, or changing directions, or stepping into the court -- he did it first and Alcaraz was left reacting.
2) Alcaraz lost it.
I've never seen Carlos return serve so badly. I read "elsewhere" that Marozsan served like Karlovic. Well ... Alcaraz made his service look like Dr. Ivo's. Marozsan only ave 118 mph on first serve but Alcaraz, normally a great returner repeatedly mishit returns -- ave speed first serves, on glacially slow court, from a deep return position. Why was Alcaraz having so much trouble returning that serve? Just a bad day at the office?
Alcaraz who in someone's words (Mats Wilander perhaps) "Has more options than anyone since Federer" was constantly reacting and had no plan B.
Love a good Cinderella story. Let's hope the carriage doesn't turn into a pumpkin for a while <g>.
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Popcorn match I want to see -- Tsitsias meets Musetti in battle of the one-handed backhands.
Medvedev up a set on Zverev who has still not gotten his A game back after horrific ankle injury in last year's French Open.
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Djoko beat Norrie but was unamused at getting tagged by an overhead at the net.
In fairness he turned and walked into it. But he gave Cam the Death Stare and latter a chilly handshake.
Let's see how the new forum software does with a link.
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Morozsan out to Coric, but hardly fair given long match and quick turn overComment
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