Marozsan recalls clash against 16-year-old Sinner before Halle showdown

In the final full week of January in 2018, Jannik Sinner played qualifying for an ITF World Tennis Tour event in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Then 16, he had not yet earned a PIF ATP Rankings point.

Standing across the net in the second round was a Hungarian named Fabian Marozsan. The 18-year-old rallied for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory that day, and he has not faced the Italian since.

That will change Thursday when Marozsan plays new World No. 1 Sinner in the second round of the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle.

“I remember that I was going to play against an Italian player who was very young and I just saw the last game of his match. He played very fast, he was moving into the court and putting a lot of pressure on the opponent and I said, ‘Okay, it's not going to be easy. But he's still young, and maybe I have a chance to win against him’,” Marozsan recalled from their meeting in Egypt. “That was maybe my first or second year of the ITFs. I just started the Futures tournaments and I was still still a young player, but he was much younger than me.”

Thinking back more than six years to that encounter, Marozsan believed Sinner could be a “really good player, but not the No. 1”.

“But he was very, very talented,” Marozsan said. “He is moving really fast and well. He is very smart on the court and huge forehand, good backhand also. He has the good feeling with the balls and he's a good guy so let's see. I just want to enjoy and maybe use my chances if I have some.”

Now 24 years old, Marozsan has climbed as high as No. 36 in the PIF ATP Rankings. He has already sprung big upsets, including a stunner last year in Rome against Carlos Alcaraz.

Something that has helped the Hungarian is his improved mentality and the use of a “poker face". Growing up, Marozsan would cry during matches or even throw his racquet. People in Hungary told him if he wanted to become a professional player, he needed to change and focus on the next point.

“It's not easy because sometimes when things are not going in a good way, I'm that person who is showing the negative things. It's not a good thing and I have to learn how to [hide] the face and how to keep calm a little bit and and show to everyone and of course to the opponent that I am still positive and believing in myself,” Marozsan said. “But sometimes it's really hard and sometimes I'm missing this one because I'm showing the negative and the bad things. I'm trying to focus on this one.”

One advantage Sinner will have is his experience on the sport’s biggest stages. Although Marozsan has played seven Top 10 opponents (4-3) according to Infosys ATP Stats, centre court has not been his playground the way it has been for the player he called “the best at the moment”: Sinner.

“He feels like he's at home because of the centre court, I never played here before. It's a little bit difficult and different for me, so let's see,” Marozsan said ahead of the pair's first Lexus ATP Head2Head (tour-level) meeting. “I’ll try to believe in myself and keep my serve and probably I have a bigger chance here on grass to beat him or maybe just win one set. So we will see, I'm looking forward this one and I want to enjoy [it].”