Fábián Marozsán, the killer of giants

Fábián Marozsán, the young Hungarian tennis player has moved up to 38th place in the latest world ranking of tennis players published on Monday.

It was the second time in his career that the Hungarian made it to the best eight of an ATP 1000 tournament (the level below a Grand Slam). He beat two top ten players to reach the last eight in Miami – a feat never before achieved by a Hungarian player in a tournament – and also held his ground against the German Olympic champion Alexander Zverev, who eventually eliminated him. Zverev didn't just pat him on the back when they shook hands after the match, but also told him he could see him in the top ten soon.

Marozsán is preparing for the clay court season in Hungary, where he is working on adapting both his mind and body, because the ball bounces differently on clay. He held a press conference during the reprogramming and gave interviews afterwards, where we asked him about his recent performance and his future goals as well.

"Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise."

– this quote from singer-songwriter Frank Ocean was the motto featured on the poster next to him while we spoke.

His manager, Zsolt Somogyi, began by saying that the end of last year had not gone as planned because of Marozsán's frequent illnesses, including several viral infections, which meant that the December preparation period had to be canceled altogether. They managed to make up for the missed work somehow and were able to climb out of this small hole. In January, he beat Frenchman Gaël Monfils in three sets in Auckland, New Zealand, and then lost to American Taylor Fritz in the third round of the Australian Open. By now his game has caught the attention of sponsors, and Hold Fund Management has become one of his sponsors.

His coach, György Balázs congratulated him during the press conference – not only because the cameras were there, but also because he hadn't had the opportunity to do so with all the rush of the recent weeks. Reflecting back on the beginning of the almost thirty-day tour, Balázs said that already on the plane there were many positive indications that Marozsán would be on the pitch for more than just a few matches. He observed that wherever they went around the world, they were happy to see them, with gestures to this effect coming from the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. The training sessions and the batting went well, they managed to find good training partners, which only added to his positive feelings, plus they also had a bit of luck in the draw. Balázs said that Marozsán had asked him to try and shorten the valleys, which on the whole they achieved.

"This was my first time in America. I was able to play some good matches, and I came back with good memories. We put a lot of work into making it all happen. It was an important stage but I don't want to stop here. I came back from a disadvantage against Jarry from Chile in the first tournament, which is not characteristic of me, and that got me going," said Marozsán.

In Indian Wells, the world's second biggest tennis stadium, he clashed with Spain's Alcaraz, whom he had beaten in Rome last year causing a world sensation when he was still well outside the top 100. Now it was time for a rematch. "I knew it was going to be a different match, he was also very prepared because he was feeling especially bad after the defeat in Rome. You could feel it in his game that he had specifically prepared for playing me and I had to work harder this time," said Marozsán, who eventually lost.

In Miami, it was his victory over Denmark's Holger Rune that attracted the most attention, as he pretty much wiped him off the court with a 6-1, 6-1 win. His rival, ranked seventh in the world, lost his composure several times. It was clear that this was not the match he was expecting.

"It was such a short match that I didn't even have time to grasp what I had achieved. And there was no time for celebration afterwards either, I couldn't even sit back, let alone revel in the success,

because Popirin, who was ahead of me in the rankings at the time, awaited me at 11am local time the next day. I started half asleep and carried on sleepily, but I needed to find a way out of it. There were a lot of difficult moments, which is why this two-game success had so much value. On the third day I played against De Minaur from Australia, and in the second set I had a not so nice 0:6. I didn't know what to do, what could help me out of that situation, but finally I found it and things worked out well. I managed to break an opponent who has won 16 matches this year alone, but I managed to beat him for the second time."

A storybook rise

Last April, Marozsán was playing in a small challenger tournament in Split, Croatia where he drove himself and was eliminated in the first round. We asked him if he remembered the two tournaments where he was eliminated in the first round this time a year ago, and how he would describe the year that has passed since then.

"I remember both of them, and there actually was a third one. If I was playing in Split again, I would still go by car. That's how things work in this job, there are times when we get eliminated quickly. You can't always stay in the race until the very end.

It's possible that something clicked in me. Maybe it's faith, it could be that all of a sudden I just started believing in myself and hoping that there's still more in me, and that I could dream even bigger dreams.

From here on how decisions are made and reactions come is a mental game. If someone had told me back then that in a year I would be the 38th, I wouldn't have believed it. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined this. I would have happily accepted being the 80th. I worked hard a year ago too, so it's hard to explain why it's coming out of me now. One thing is for sure, I now have a team behind me that helps me with everything, not only a coach and a manager, but also a dietician and a strength trainer. Many little things go a long way, I am receiving quality training, they are preparing me in a different way. But yes, what I've been through in a year is huge."

György Balázs highlighted that it was a huge feat that Marozsán found his rhythm against Popirin, even though the Australian tried his best to make sure that didn't happen. The coach said he was a bit worried, but he tried to hide it. Marozsán didn't notice, and then he found his game and went on.

“I'm trying to think about what Fábi's strengths are and what I would say against him if I were his opponent's coach. It's undeniable that they are taking him more and more seriously. We don't regret that of course, and I'm partly very happy for him, but he has a tougher job now. Wherever he competes, his position is an obligation, he's also become a target.”

Balázs says it's flattering that Zverev mentioned the top ten, but it's not a realistic aspiration this year yet – which doesn't mean they're giving up on it. He thinks Marozsán needs more confidence with his volleys and serves. "He needs to believe that when he goes up to the net, the preparation has been adequate, he's closing the angles nicely and it's hard to hit past him. His arm is very good and long and he's skilful, but in some places he doesn't quite have the power to get to the net. His serve is not yet as powerful as it could be, but with a few kilos of added muscle and a stronger shoulder girdle, he will be able to hit fifteen or even twenty km/ hour faster serves, and five or ten lighter points are very useful in matches like the one against Zverev, because he won't have to sprint the baseline all the time and he can save his energy.

I'd like to build those few kilos of muscle, that complexity is needed for him to climb even higher.

As a player, he's very controllable. It is obvious that he uses whatever I say to him during a game. He takes it in, which is an art in and of itself, given the adrenaline and the workload he's working with when up against a serious player. It's a big responsibility for me as well, but I'm happy about that."

Balázs says he has admonished him several times when he wasn't happy with his body language. He told him to straighten up, be more positive, raise his head so that he wouldn't be seen dangling his arms. He believes that his emotions and thoughts being hard to read is a virtue, because his opponents can't read from his eyes.

"We are also working on getting him to say 'come on!', to shake his fist in his own way after a good resolution. Whenever he looks over, looks at me, and his hand is in a fist, it is a sign that he really wants that next point. We read somewhere that some are describing him as "the killer of giants", and that's how it started to spread that he's a cold-blooded killer, which also carries a negative connotation, although his personality isn't like that at all."

Marozsán has set clear goals for the near future: he is aiming to be in the top 30 in the world rankings and to be seeded in a Grand Slam.

Whether he will play in Monte Carlo next week is yet to be seen. Based on his current ranking, he could be in the main draw, but at the time of registration he was still outside the top 50. If he makes the main draw, he will continue there, if not, he will play in Barcelona in mid-April and then Madrid in early May. They think there is no point in starting in the qualifying round.

"The Olympics is also a big goal of mine because I don't often get to represent my country and if I can do it at the age of 24-25, it will be another important milestone. In tennis it's often said that it's not the main competition, but it nevertheless sounds great if someone is an Olympian. I will do my best to achieve a good result. Since the Olympics will be in Paris, playing well twice in one year at Roland Garros would be truly exhilarating," he concluded.