Photo credit: ROLEX
Radical revision isn’t what you might expect from a reigning champion riding a Roland Garros winning streak.
Today, Carlos Alcaraz altered his game face before stepping on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Then, the reigning champion conjured up magical mid-match make-over.
Wrapping a wondrous running one-handed backhand around the net post, Alcaraz transformed Court Chatrier into Land of Ahhs as fans gasped.
Sporting a shave and haircut, Alcatraz clipped friendly nemesis Fabian Marozsan 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in a fun and flashy Roland Garros second-round victory.
It is Alcaraz’s ninth straight Roland Garros win sending him into a third-round showdown vs. either towering French Servinator Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard or Damir Dzumhur. If seeds hold true to form, Alcaraz would face either former French Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas or 13th-seeded American Ben Shelton in the round of 16.
The 22-year-old Spaniard improved to 20-3 at Roland Garros—he’s the first man born in the 2000s to win 20 matches in Paris—and raised his 2025 clay-court record to 17-1.
Aiming to become the first man since Rafael Nadal in 2019-2020 to successfully defend his French Open crown, Alcaraz is now 29-2 on clay since last May. The only two men to defeat him on dirt in that span: Novak Djokovic in the Olympic gold-medal match staged at Roland Garros last August and to Holger Rune in last month’s Barcelona final.
Today, Alcaraz pumped 41 winners against 25 unforced errors, won 28 of 36 trips to net and held break points in 11 of Marozsan’s 16 service games.
Compulsive entertainer Alcaraz always seems to give more and in unexpected ways. Alcaraz pulled off the wrap-around net play again to break Marozsan in his final service game and concluded leading the Court Chatrier fans in their favorite cheer.
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The seventh game was a showcase for Alcaraz’s all-court shotmaking.
First, there was his slick no-look forehand flick pass off a dropper, then a sliding ballistic backhand strike down the line that helped him gain double-set point. Marozsan saved both, but there was no wiggle room against the sharp Spaniard.
On his third set point, Alcaraz streaked up to a tough drop shot and slid a backhand pass down the line ending a dominant opening set in just 26 minutes.
Alcaraz won 16 of 27 points played on the Hungarian’s serve and broke three times in the opener.
Throughout his run to the Rome title this month, Alcaraz minimized flights of fancy and focus lapses that can sometimes pop up.
Today, Alcaraz started the second set with a sloppy game, Marozsan pounced to break. Trying to move Alcaraz laterally before hitting behind him, Marozsan used the Spaniard’s speed against him confirming the break for a 2-0 second-set lead.
Taking the ball a bit earlier, Marozsan had a break point for a 3-0 lead, but Alcaraz denied it.
Playing with white taping wrapping his upper left thigh, Marozsan was moving well through the attack zone. After saving a break point of his own, the Hungarian stuck a volley off the back of the baseline then snapped off a slick high volley to hold for 3-1.
Dripping sweat amid the humid conditions beneath the closed Chatrier roof, Marozsan faced break points in six of his first serve serve games. Still, he hung tough, saving three break points, including boldly carving a forehand dropper to deny the third, navigating a seven-and-a-half minute hold for 4-2.
This match was a rematch of Marozsan’s stunning 6-3, 7-6(4) upset of Alcaraz at the 2023 Rome to snap the Spaniard's 12-match winning streak in Rome two years ago. Hungarian qualifier Marozsan displaced the Spaniard with deep drives and dispensed doses of Alcaraz's drop-shot medicine against him that day.
Rarely do you see Alcaraz beat in a drop-shot duel, but Marozsan did it again today running down the Spaniard’s dropper and dribbling an angled reply that slid off the tape like a raindrop dripping from a drain pipe.
The Budapest-born baseliner served out the second set at 15 saving all five break points he faced along the way to level the match.
Coach Juan Carlos Ferrero was leaning forward in his seat pushing his palms out in urging Alcaraz to move up on the baseline and apply pressure with his speed and location.
In an eruption of Tour de France level acceleration, Alcaraz squeezed the expansive Chatrier Court to sand box size running down everything in jolting bursts to break for a 2-0 third-set lead.
Across the net, Marozsan was spooked by the Spaniard’s speed wearing a “where do I go” expression toward his box.
An energized Alcaraz pulled off the soft serve-volley winner stamping a love hold for a 3-0 lead after 85 minutes.
In the fourth game, Alcaraz amped up the astounding, reading the angled shot and sliding into that jaw-dropping one-handed backhand pass that curled around the net post and settled inside the baseline bringing the roars from Chatrier fans and leaving a pained Marozsan looking sore.
The second seed flashed a fist to Coach Ferrero serving out the the third set that saw him serve 75 percent and win 14 of 15 first-serve points.
During the touching tribute Roland Garros staged to celebrate 14-time champion Rafael Nadal, Alcaraz, like most fans in attendance, was moved to tears seeing the King of Clay’s deep emotion.
Like his Olympic doubles partner, forehand depth is a barometer of Alcaraz’s confidence.
An empowered Alcaraz unleashed a flurry of forehands including upper-cutting a vicious forehand drive winner breaking for a 2-1 fourth-set lead.
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This being Alcaraz, there’s always room for the unexpected break. The pair exchanged breaks in the fourth and fifth games.
The entertaining Alcaraz delivered a sliding around-the-net post encore—just in case fans missed the first one—followed by a forehand winner down the line breaking for 5-2.
Alcaraz closed a festive win in two hours, nine minutes and will ride a 32-5 record in 2025, including an eight-match winning streak on dirt, into round three.