ROLEX SHANGHAI MASTERS

October 10, 2023

Fabian Marozsan

Mixed Zone

F. MAROZSAN/C. Ruud

7-6, 3-6, 6-4

Q. You had your birthday earlier this week. It seems like the perfect way to celebrate your birthday.

FABIAN MAROZSAN: Yeah, I mean, it was two days ago, I think, when I played against Dusan. That was the biggest present for myself (laughing). I'm just really happy to be playing today against Casper. He's one of the top-seeded players here. He has a good chance to winning almost every tournament. I'm just really happy to play against him in this tournament here in Shanghai.

Yeah, it's the best result for me, I mean, to play in the last eight in a Masters tournament.

Q. You obviously played really well throughout the match, but finishing a match is always tough. What was the key? How did you manage it mentally as much as anything?

FABIAN MAROZSAN: Yeah, as you said, it's never easy to finish the match. He's a top-10 player. Yeah, it's never easy. I try to do my best. I try every serve, every forehand. Maybe I played a little bit risky sometimes, but, yeah, it's just happens now, and I'm just really happy to winning the match with the forehand deciding.

Q. You haven't had a lot of experience on hard courts, so what is clicking for you at the moment?

FABIAN MAROZSAN: Yeah, I never played so many matches on hard court. I mean, the biggest tournaments we are playing on hard court on the ATP Tour, so I have to improve my game here also. Yeah, maybe it's the good weather or maybe it's a good court. The crowd is amazing here, so maybe just the feeling is coming, and I'm just enjoying the tennis.

Q. Do you feel like you lift your game against big players? You've had some big wins this year.

FABIAN MAROZSAN: Yeah, I mean, I had great results this year. I beat few top-seeded players here in Shanghai, in Rome also. This is just only my second Masters tournament, so it's kind of a new tournament series for me. I'm just very happy to be playing here and try to do my best every time.

Q. We haven't had a chance to learn a lot about you as yet. Could you maybe talk about your start in tennis, any tennis heroes?

FABIAN MAROZSAN: Yeah, (laughing). I mean, I was just five years old when I just started to play tennis. I learned everything from my father. He plays tennis before, and now he's just supporting me from home. He's watching all the matches that I'm playing.

So, yeah, I was really young when I started to play and it was my first sport that I just try when I was young. So it was love for the first, I don't know, how do you say, the first...

Q. Experience?

FABIAN MAROZSAN: Yeah, experience, sorry. Yeah, you know what I mean? So, yeah, I was really young when I just started and I just tried to push it every time. I can see that I was maybe a good junior player, and I was a little bit confident after that. I tried to win my first points on the ATP and, yeah, I'm just playing here right now. I'm just really happy to being in the top 100, it's a great result. I was just dreaming about this when I was young. I think everybody's dreaming about this when they started to play tennis.

Q. Did you have any sort of tennis heroes, like some of the former Hungarian players, for example?

FABIAN MAROZSAN: No, I don't have Hungarians, or we don't have so many players at home, unfortunately. But, yeah, I think one of the best players in the world is, of course, it's Roger, but my hero is Nadal, Rafa Nadal.

Q. You said you don't have a lot of heroes in Hungary, so what does this win mean for Hungarian tennis?

FABIAN MAROZSAN: I think it means a lot for the country. It means a lot for me just to, at the moment, I'm the second player in Hungary, I'm really enjoying this, I'm very proud for this one, so, I mean, yeah, I'm just doing my things and now it's happening.

Q. Your first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal. You'll play either Hurkacz or Zhang. Any thoughts ahead of that?

FABIAN MAROZSAN: Yeah, I mean, it's a good chance also for me. I mean, it's much better to play against Zhang or Hurkacz, maybe they are not Alcaraz (laughing). So, yeah, it's better for me, I'm supporting for them just to winning the better player, we will see. I'm looking forward to the match and I'm trying to preparing for that.

Q. Your next match is between Zhang Zhizhen or Hurkacz, one of them. Which one do you prefer?

FABIAN MAROZSAN: I mean, maybe, how do you say his name?

Q. Zhang Zhizhen.

FABIAN MAROZSAN: Okay. The Chinese player? I'm supporting for him. I mean, he's just, like, I don't know, 40 in the world, 50, I don't know his ranking. Maybe I have a little bit more chance to win against him than Hurkacz. I just want to enjoy the match and we will see how it's going.

Q. Always you are faced with this Chinese audience, so how about the feelings so far about this China trip? How has it been the feeling on this Chinese trip so far?

FABIAN MAROZSAN: How's the feeling? In Shanghai? Yeah, it's my first time here in Shanghai. I think I never played in Asia before. I'm just really enjoying everything. It's perfect here. I mean, the courts, the crowd, the hotel and the accommodation, everything is perfect for the players. So, yeah, I'm just really happy to playing here in the first time.