The Hungarian will next play World No. 1 Djokovic

After Marton Fucsovics lost against Andrey Rublev for the second time this year in Dubai, the Hungarian told his opponent, “I hope I don’t play you anymore this year!” It’s fitting that on Monday, the 29-year-old earned the biggest win of his career against the Russian.

Fucsovics rallied past Rublev 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 after two hours and 41 minutes to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals. The unseeded righty is the first Hungarian to make the last eight at The Championships since Jozsef Asboth in 1948.

“From the beginning, I had a very good feeling on the court,” Fucsovics said. “I was serving well. I was moving very well. I hit the ball very well. I hit a lot of winners, so I was very confident.”

But that is not all the history Fucsovics made. In his 17th major main draw, he is into his first quarter-final, and the World No. 48 is the first man from his country to make the last eight at a Slam since Balazs Taroczy at Roland Garros in 1981.

It is poetic justice that the victory came against a player who has tortured him seemingly incessantly over the past nine months. Starting at Roland Garros last year, Rublev won four consecutive matches against Fucsovics. Most of those matches were tighter than their scoreline indicated, but the Russian strung together nine consecutive sets in their rivalry.

“I was not thinking about the previous matches. This one was a different match,” Fucsovics said. “We played on grass. I really like the surface. I think my game fits the surface very well. I think Andrey’s game is not the best on grass, so I just was focusing on the next points. I took my chances. I didn’t give up. Then that was the key.”

That made what Fucsovics did on No. 2 Court at SW19 even more impressive. Rublev took control of the match and appeared primed to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time. But the Hungarian never let  his belief slip, and he won nine consecutive games from the start of the third set to turn the match around and surge to a 3-0 lead in the decider.

“In the second and third sets, I had some unlucky service games where Andrey made very good returns, but then I took a toilet break and I calmed down a little bit,” Fucsovics said. “When I stepped on the court again, I was very relaxed. I started to serve unbelievable. Big serves, aces. Then I felt that when I broke him [in the fourth set] that I had a good chance to turn this around.”

Whereas Rublev has typically been the more consistent player in their matches and found ways to control rallies without overplaying, it was Fucsovics who took that role on Manic Monday. The 2018 Geneva champion remained calm throughout, and frequented the net to put pressure on the Russian. The 29-year-old won 81 per cent (22/27) of his net points.

But given these rivals’ history, it was no surprise that the ending was not straightforward. After losing nine straight games, Rublev still managed to get back on serve in the deciding set when his opponent double-faulted. But he could not fully seize the momentum, giving the service break right back with an unforced error on a forehand from the middle of the court. All the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals competitor was able to do was put his left hand on his hip in disbelief.

The fifth seed got another crack at breaking back in the match’s final game, when Fucsovics double-faulted to give him another break point. But after a long, tense rally, the Hungarian crushed a courageous inside-in forehand winner, and he closed out his victory two points later.

Fucsovics will next play World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who has won their two previous ATP Head2Head meetings. They most recently clashed in Doha two years ago.

source (Article; pictures): ATP Tour; Great HungarICON: Márton Fucsovics, Friends of Hungary, Youtube; Fucsovics Márton, Fucsovics Márton hivatalos szurkolói oldala, Facebook

A következő feladatban keressétek ki a szövegből, melyik tenisz kifejezéseket magyaráztuk el nektek.

1. not ranked as one of the best players in a tennis tournament
2. matches following one after another without an interruption
3. to rebound again (recovered from an unfavourable score and
   beat the opponents)
4. strokes made by the receiver of a service
5. following the service of a tennis ball, a series of return hits of the ball that ends
   when one or other player fails to return the ball within the court boundary
   or fails to return a ball that falls within the play area
6. two serving faults in a row in one point, causing the player serving to lose the point
7. point which, if won by the receiver, would result in a break of service
8. Running around the backhand side to hit a forehand down the line

keys/megoldások: 1. unseeded; 2. consecutive matches; 3. rally past; 4. returns; 5. rally; 6. double-faulted; 7. break point; 8. inside-in forehand

source: Glossary of Tennis Terms, Wikipedia

Hungary’s Zsombor Piros has won the country’s first Australian Open boys’ championship.

Zsombor Piros, the 15th seed, had to work for nearly two hours to beat fourth-seeded Yshai Oliel of Israel 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

It was only the second Grand Slam junior event for the 17-year-old from Budapest. He lost second round at Melbourne Park last year.

The opening set was the only one Piros lost on his way to the title. He beat the second and fifth seeds before outslugging the Israeli left-hander in the final.

Oliel, who beat top-seeded Wu Yibing of China in the semifinals, proved less steady than his opponent.

With the title in the balance at 1-1 in the deciding set, Piros slumped to 0-40. The right-hander, who lists magic tricks among his hobbies, found a way to scramble out of that service game and grew in confidence from there.

He broke for 4-2 and was untroubled in the next two service games to close out the match.

It was the first meeting between the pair, who conquered the top two seeds in the draw. Oliel defeated top seed Yibing Wu 6-4 3-6 6-2 in the semifinals, while Piros was able to account for second seed Yu Hsiou Hsu 6-3 6-2 in the third round.

The first set began with Piros claiming the opening break in the second game before Oliel was able to reclaim it, before taking control of the momentum to break the Hungarian’s serve again and claim the set, edging one step closer to singles success at a junior Grand Slam.

Piros was elated that he was able to regroup after the first set, saying that his belief was shaken after being up a break and being overrun.

“I am honest. After the first set, I lost my belief a little bit,” he said.

“So, yeah. It was my first one, first main draw won in the Grand Slam. I am still surprised myself at this win.”

The second began on shaky terms for Oliel, as he was again broken early by the Hungarian, who was able to run the fourth seed around the court in an effort to wrestle the momentum back.

It looked as though Piros may have succeeded when he raced to a 5-2 lead in the set, only to have that advantage quickly eroded as Oliel got back on serve at 4-5. However, Piros was able to break serve and clinch a hard-fought set to force the championship into a decider.

The final stanza began with both players showing maturity beyond their years, repeatedly holding serve and placing large amounts of pressure on each other.

However, in the sixth game, the Hungarian was able to break after an epic effort. The Oliel service game went for over five minutes, and Piros was able to fend off game points before converting his second break point.

Piros puts his win down to being the better defensive player on the day, admitting that Oliel came up with the better shots. He also said the sixth game of the final set was his best returning game.

Piros was able to run away with the set to claim the victory in only his second main draw at a junior Slam.

source: ausopen.com, Daily Mail

Piros Zsombor facts:

Piros Zsombor (born 13 October 1999) is a Hungarian junior tennis player.

Piros has a career-high ATP singles ranking of 1366 achieved on 26 September 2016. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of 1483 achieved on 19 September 2016.

On the junior tour, Piros has a career high ranking of 23 achieved on 23 January 2017. Piros won the 2017 Australian Open boys’ singles championships, defeating Yishai Oliel in the final.