The tennis gods are cruel: Fabian Maroszan

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Was it only a year ago that Fabian Marozsan was a fresh tennis face making a big breakthrough in Rome?

He certainly was.

Then 23, the 6-4 Hungarian – ranked No. 135 – made big noise as he went from the qualifying to the fourth round at the Italian Open.

He beat Corentin Moutet in three sets. Then he edged out the talented Jiri Lehecka in a third-set tiebreak. And then he upset No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets before going down to No. 16 Borna Coric in three in the round of 16.

Marozsan made plenty of new fans.

And he took it from there. His ranking moved up just 20 points with that effort in Rome. But while he still continued to play Challengers, he also made the quarterfinals in Shanghai in October (beating Rinderknech, de Minaur, Lajovic and Ruud before falling to Hurkacz in three sets).

He made the fourth round at Indian Wells in March, too. And the quarterfinals in Miami (beating Rune and de Minaur).

Clearly, he’s been at his best in the big events although so far, there hasn’t been a great run at a major.

Maroszan arrived in Rome at a career high ranking of No. 36, having already banked as much in 2024 as he did all last year – nearly half of his career prize money.

Just outside the seeds, he had to play a first round against Alexander Shevchenko. And you’d think he’d be poised for another good run at a Masters 1000, right?

Not to be; Maroszan is already out – quickly, 6-3, 6-2 to Shevchenko.

On the plus side, because of all the other results he’s banked, his ranking will only drop about four spots.

Still, it just illustrates that when you think someone is going to make a move, the tennis gods intervene.