Carlos Alcaraz has been handed a big inconvienience at the Olympics. (Image: Getty.)
Elite sportsmen rarely reveal their inner fears before or after a big match, but Carlos Alcaraz bucked that trend after he beat Fabian Marozsan in Indian Wells
World No 2 Carlos Alcaraz raced into the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open with a straight-sets win over Fabian Marozsan in Indian Wells.
The Spaniard, bidding to become the first player to defend the title since Novak Djokovic in 2016, won 6-3 6-3 in an hour and a quarter.
Hungarian Marozsan, 24, came into the match with a rare winning head-to-head record against Alcaraz, having beaten him on the Rome clay last year in their only previous meeting, one of the shock results of the season.
The Wimbledon champion quickly went about taking his revenge, winning four games in a row from 3-2 down to take the first set.
A solitary break for 4-2 in the second proved enough to wrap up the match and book a last-eight meeting with Alexander Zverev or Alex de Minaur.
“Honestly I was nervous before the match, I’m not going to lie,” said Alcaraz.
“Playing against someone who beat you easily — I remember I had no chances in the match in Rome. It was difficult for me today to approach the match, but I’m really happy with the way that I did.
“I started pretty well, playing my style since the beginning. Today I knew what I had to do better than I did in Rome.
“After a great first set, it was time to keep going, keep pushing in the second set. Trying to break as soon as possible and be up in the score.
“Don’t let him play his style on the court, that’s what I was thinking and I think I did pretty well.
“Of course, he has shown the level he has. He’s a really good player and I’m sure he’s gonna still keep climbing his level up as the seasons go on.
“I think the conditions here suits very well to my game. I feel really comfortable in this court, in this tournament. I feel really well.
“Not only on the court, off the court as well. I think it’s really important for the players to feel relaxed, to feel calm or feeling really well, you know, off the court. Turn off your mind a little bit, not think about tennis 100% of the time.
“Here there are things we can do off the court. For me, it relax me very, very well. For me it’s playing golf. I can do it here very well and too much.
“I love playing these courts. The last three years I have been playing great tennis here. Yeah, I think, yeah, in this tournament gave me an extra motivation and extra confident.”
The victory was Alcaraz’s 50th in ATP 1000 tournaments, as he became only second player under the age of 21.
Remarkably, Alcaraz’s compatriot Rafael Nadal had a stunning 81 ATP 1000 wins before he turned 21, with Novak Djokovic next on the list with a hugely impressive 48 wins in elite ATP tournaments.
Those statistics highlight the impressive numbers Alcaraz is putting together at such a young age and he appears to have found his best form in Indian Wells after playing at a consistently high level against Marozsan.
The pace Alcaraz was finding on his ground shots provided flashbacks to his memorable win at Indian Wells a year ago, with the intensity of his play rarely dropping over the course of the match.
There was also no sign of the ankle injury he sustained in a tournament in Rio last month, as Alcaraz confirmed he is eager to defend his title and reclaim the 1,000 ranking points that dropped off his record at the start of this tournament.
Italy’s Jannik Sinner may be getting all the big headlines as Djokovic appears to be losing some of his powers on invincibility at the top of the men’s game, but Alcaraz appears to be ready to remind the tennis world that the next era of tennis will not be dominated by one player.
