Chasing form, Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury reached the quarter-finals at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time this season on Monday. The second seeds clawed past Italians Andrea Pellegrino and Andrea Vavassori 7-6(1), 6-7(1), 10-7 at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

Ram and Salisbury, who reached the final in Rome in 2021, saved one set point in the first set and then held their nerve in the Match Tie-break to advance after one hour and 59 minutes.

Ram and Salisbury have won three ATP Masters 1000 titles as a team and will continue their quest for a fourth against Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos. The Spanish-Argentine team defeated Daniel Evans and Ben Shelton 6-1, 7-6(1).

Jason Kubler and Alex de Minaur won a thriller against Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden. The Australians saved two match points to triumph 2-6, 7-6(8), 12-10.

Jamie Murray and Michael Venus advanced, defeating fourth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer 7-6(7), 4-6, 10-2, while Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski beat Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek 7-6(3), 6-2.

If Carlos Alcaraz didn’t know much about Fabian Marozsan before Monday, he does now.

The World No. 2’s 12-match winning streak was snapped by the No. 135-ranked qualifier at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, where Marozsan produced a barrage of clean hitting to register a major shock in the third-round clash. A philosophical Alcaraz admitted he had expected a high level from the 23-year-old Hungarian, but perhaps not quite so high.

“I didn’t watch too much of him before the match,” said Alcaraz in his post-match press conference. “I just followed a lot of [his] results in the Challengers and stuff. He did well. He was doing well before here.

“Of course, he surprised me a lot. I mean, his level was really, really high. I’m sure he’s going to break the Top 100 very, very soon. It was surprising for me.”

While every player has an off day, Alcaraz believes that it was the quality of Marozsan’s game that proved decisive at the Foro Italico, rather than any major issues with his own display.

“I was perfect physically. I just didn’t feel comfortable,” said the Spaniard. “He made me feel uncomfortable on court. I mean, he was aggressive all the time. He was playing inside the baseline all the time. It was tough for me to get into the match, into the rallies. I made a lot of mistakes that I usually don’t make [often].

“Obviously these days can happen in tennis, and you have to handle it. In the second set I was close, I had my chances, but I didn’t take the chances. He was at the same level all the time.”

Despite the disappointment of his Rome debut ending in third-round defeat, Alcaraz will use the extra time off to begin his preparations for Roland Garros. He may have racked up a 20-2 record on clay for the season so far, but the 20-year-old knows he needs to be at his best physically if he is going to compete for the title across five-set matches at the clay-court Grand Slam in Paris.

“I’m going to rest little bit, some days off for me,” said Alcaraz, who won back-to-back titles in Barcelona and Madrid prior to coming to Rome. “I really need some days to reset my mind a little bit, to be fresh for Roland Garros.

“Of course, to practise [is not a] secret. You have to practise. If you want to do a good result in Paris, if I want to go to Paris in a good shape, I have to practise, to be better. I couldn’t practise more than three, four days in a row. I’ve been playing so much.

“It’s going to be really helpful for me to have days at home practising and getting ready for Roland Garros.”

Although he has competed twice before at Roland Garros (he reached the quarter-finals last year) and knows what it takes to go all the way at a major after his 2022 US Open triumph, Alcaraz is already guaranteed a new experience for this year’s trip to Paris. He will play as the top seed at a Grand Slam for the first time in the French capital because he is guaranteed to replace Novak Djokovic as No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on 22 May.

“It’s great to be No. 1 seed in a Grand Slam, in Paris,” said Alcaraz, when asked about the pressure of headlining a major draw. “That’s a tournament [where] I really want to have a good result.

“I try not to think about it. For me it’s the same to be No. 1, No. 2, No. 3. Probably the draw is the same [with those rankings]. It’s great, but at the same time it’s not really [more] helpful for me.”

“He only wanted to hit forehands, so I was hitting everything there.”

Cameron Norrie was happy to bow to the demands of an unexpected hitting partner in Florida in March.

The 27-year-old Briton took to court with Jon Bon Jovi prior to the Miami Open presented by Itau after the two were put in contact by the music legend’s daughter, a college friend of Norrie’s girlfriend Louise.

“It was so cool,” Norrie told ATPTour.com. “We went to a tennis club next to his place in Palm Beach and I played with him for 25 or 30 minutes. He only started tennis a couple years ago, so he was obsessed with it. For someone who had only played like two years, he was pretty good and [has a] really good technique on the forehand.

“Then he said, ‘Follow me, and we’ll go back to my house’ and we had some food. His house is obviously unbelievable, and he’s such a nice guy. So down to earth and so humble. It was really cool.”

Getting ready for a different kind of tour ..!!@cam_norrie @carlosalcaraz @FTiafoe @RafaelNadal @DaniilMedwed @rogerfederer @serenawilliams pic.twitter.com/dbYtzkUBBt

— Jon Bon Jovi (@jonbonjovi) March 22, 2023

Norrie, No. 13 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, was almost taken aback by the strength of his famous host’s passion for the sport.

“He just loves tennis in general and was so pumped for the [Miami] tournament to go and watch,” said Norrie. “He came to watch me practise [at Hard Rock Stadium] and he was already planning to go to Wimbledon [this year]. He’s got some concerts lined up over the summer [in the UK] and yeah, he was pumped.”

Although admitting he is no Bon Jovi ‘superfan’, Norrie was familiar enough with Bon Jovi’s work to realise he was spending time with rock royalty.

“Obviously I know all his big songs,” said the New Zealand-born 27-year-old. “I love it, but I was not like a huge fan. So I was pretty relaxed, honestly, but I know how big he is and how much of a legend he is. So it was just cool to see how humble he was. He treated me and my girlfriend so well and he was so down earth.”

Norrie’s trip to Palm Beach was not the first time he rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous this year. In Indian Wells in March, he suddenly found himself next to Microsoft co-founder and businessman Bill Gates.

“I was doing a photo shoot there and I said hi, and I talked to him for a little bit,” said Norrie. “He said he plays [tennis] three hours every day, which is a lot. I didn’t get to see him play so I don’t know if he’s any good, but it looks like he obviously likes it.”

Norrie is renowned as one of the most down-to-earth and hard-working players in the locker room. So how does he cope with the occasional celebrity encounters that crop up as part of his life on the ATP Tour?

“I wasn’t [nervous] with [Bon Jovi or Gates], but I think for [some] other famous people I would be,” said Norrie. “Like when I met Andy [Murray] for the first time, I was so nervous, and [Roger] Federer. Guys who I really respect, and I’ve been watching and seeing them.”

On Tuesday at the Foro Italico, Norrie will attempt to make headlines himself when he chases a first win in three attempts against six-time champion and World No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

That may seem a tough ask for a player who had only limited exposure to clay courts growing up, yet Norrie has worked hard to improve on the surface. In 2022 he lifted his first clay-court ATP Tour title in Lyon, and in February he became one of just three players to defeat Carlos Alcaraz so far this season with victory in the Rio de Janeiro final.

“I think obviously some good results in South America was great for me,” said Norrie, who went 8-1 across Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, when asked about his prospects for the European clay. “It gave me a lot of confidence, but I think I need to go back to square one and I’m going to have to play my best tennis to have a chance with the best guys in the world.”

The 93-time tour-level champion Djokovic certainly counts as one of those, but Norrie has a clear idea of how he can push the Serbian great when he steps on court for the pair’s fourth-round clash in Rome on Tuesday afternoon.

“I’m going to have to make sure I’m rested and play long points,” said Norrie. “On clay it’s no secret, to win matches, for me especially, I’m not going to go out and hit someone off the court. So, I’m going to have to slowly chip away and make it competitive.”

Roland Garros tournament organisers announced that prize money for this year’s clay-court major will total €49.6 million, an increase of 12.3 per cent compared to 2022.

The men’s and women’s singles champions in Paris will each receive €2.3 million and the finalists will earn €1,150,000.

The prize money for first-round losers has increased more than 11 per cent year-on-year from €62,000 to €69,000. Prize money for losers in the second and third rounds has increased by nearly 13 per cent each.

Overall the prize money for the singles draws has increased by 9.1 per cent compared to last year. The men’s doubles and women’s doubles championship teams will claim €590,000 per pair.

The year’s second major will be played from 28 May-11 June.

Men’s & Women’s Singles Prize Money

Men’s & Women’s Doubles Prize Money

J.J. Wolf is competing in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, where he has defeated Hugo Grenier and Hubert Hurkacz to reach the third round on his tournament debut in Rome.

Ahead of his third-round match against Alexander Zverev in the Italian capital, the American spoke to ATPTour.com about his hidden talent, ideal dinner guests and love for country music.

How would you describe your perfect day if you are not playing tennis?
I would go to bed early so I wake up rested, but not wake up too late. So maybe at 8 or 9 a.m., even though I never wake up that early. I would have breakfast, watch the sunrise. Go and do something fun and outdoors with my friends and girlfriend. Something active to get a sweat going.

Then [I would] come back, have some lunch and eat really good food. Then maybe go on a rollercoaster. Dinner, a few drinks and I love a bonfire, so we would have a bonfire by a lake. Then you could go waterskiing as well.

What is the most interesting thing you have ever done in your life?
The most interesting thing was being there for my dad going through cancer treatments. I thought it was interesting. I didn’t know how someone could be so strong. I would be really scared going through something like that. But seeing him so strong and showing no fear, drawing strength from that has been the experience that I have valued the most.

If you could choose any three people to go to dinner with, who would they be and why?
I am going to take a weird approach to this. I would take three random ancestors of mine that I have never heard of and talk to them and get to meet them about where they came from and what it was like.

Do you have a hidden talent and can you tell me a bit about how you got into that?

I can dance. I have got some rhythm, I can bounce out some moves. I can groove around. I took a break dancing class when I was 12, so maybe if I can remember some of those moves. 

If you weren’t a tennis player, what job would you want and why?
Some sort of athlete. I would have to be competing. Or a white-water rafting guide. Anything outdoors I love, so something like that would be good.

If you had to choose between attending a music concert or a sporting event, what would you choose and why?
Music concert every day of the week. Maybe a Dead & Company concert or a country concert. I love Zach Bryan. It is hard for me to choose.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?
Flying for sure. I would love to fly wherever I wanted. I could just go to different places or tonight I could quickly fly home, sleep in my own bed and then fly back. That would be awesome.

Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos held their nerve for a thrilling first-round upset on Sunday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

The Spanish-Argentine pairing snapped the 10-match winning streak in Rome of fifth seeds and Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic with a 7-6(6), 3-6, 10-8 victory at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000.

Granollers and Zeballos appeared to have lost their momentum when they lost five straight points to let a 6/2 lead slip in the Match Tie-break, but they held firm for a one-hour, 46-minute win against the 2021 and 2022 champions.

There were no such problems for top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski or second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury. Koolhof and Skupski defeated Matwe Middelkoop and Andreas Mies 6-7(3), 6-3, 10-4 while Ram and Salisbury beat Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 6-3, 6-2.

After a busy Sunday at the Foro Italico, the third round will be completed on Monday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who reached the final in Rome last year, will try to hold off home hope Lorenzo Sonego. Carlos Alcaraz continues his first Foro Italico appearance against Hungarian qualifier Fabian Marozsan and 12th seed Frances Tiafoe and 18th seed Lorenzo Musetti meet in a clash of Next Gen ATP Finals alumni.

ATPTour.com previews Monday’s action.

[5] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. Lorenzo Sonego (ITA)

Tsitsipas made a deep run in Rome last year when he advanced to the final. Will Italian Sonego stop the Greek early this year?

The pair have met twice previously, with both meetings coming on hard courts in 2021. Tsitsipas won on both occasions, but needed three sets to triumph at that year’s Western & Southern Open.

Sonego has enjoyed success on home soil before. Two years ago he advanced to the semi-finals in Rome behind back-to-back Top 10 wins, two of the five he has earned in his career (5-17). Earlier this year, Sonego upset then-World No. 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime in Dubai.

The Italian will try to rely on his heavy groundstrokes to make Tsitsipas work hard on the clay. Due to rain Saturday, Tsitsipas also needed to briefly return to action Sunday to close out his victory over Nuno Borges. Will that play a factor?

[2] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) vs. [Q] Fabian Marozsan (HUN)

It has been a tournament of firsts for Hungarian Fabian Marozsan. The 23-year-old arrived in Rome having never competed in an ATP Tour main draw and with an 0-2 record in tour-level matches (Davis Cup). Marozsan qualified at the Foro Italico and has earned two wins in the main draw, completing an upset of 32nd seed Jiri Lehecka on Sunday.

Will the Hungarian be able to produce his biggest stunner of all against second seed Carlos Alcaraz?

It has been difficult for all the stars of the ATP Tour to compete with the Spaniard this year. Alcaraz has won 12 consecutive matches and back-to-back titles in Barcelona and Madrid.

“I feel great even [though] the conditions were tough… Apart of that, yeah, I felt the love from the people,” Alcaraz said after defeating countryman Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the second round. “It was great to have a lot of people, even [in] really tough conditions, really tough day, waiting the whole day. It was great to play my first match here in Rome.”

[12] Frances Tiafoe (USA) vs. [18] Lorenzo Musetti (ITA)

Tiafoe is one of the biggest fan favourites on the ATP Tour. His infectious smile and entertaining game are well-known throughout the world. But he will face a stiff test from artistic Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who also enjoys rallying the crowd to his side.

The pair have split two previous ATP Head2Head meetings, and Tiafoe’s win was a retirement in the final of this year’s United Cup. Musetti defeated Tiafoe during his breakthrough run in Acapulco two years ago. They also met twice at ATP Challenger Tour events in 2020, splitting those clashes.

Their encounter at the Foro Italico promises to be thrilling. The key will be which player is able to prevent the other from finding rhythm. Both men have proven that when at their best, they can put on a show.

More To Watch…

Earlier this year Andrey Rublev saved five match points against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Dubai. Rublev trailed 1/6 in their second-set tie-break before rallying for the victory. They will meet again as Davidovich Fokina seeks his first win in their ATP Head2Head series.

Third seed Daniil Medvedev earned his first win in Rome against Emil Ruusuvuori on Sunday and will try for his second against 31st seed Bernabe Zapata Miralles.

Italian Marco Cecchinato will try to use the support of his home fans to defeat German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann, who upset ninth seed Taylor Fritz. Fifteenth seed Borna Coric faces Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena for a place in the fourth round.