Márton Fucsovics

Márton Fucsovics ( hu, Fucsovics Márton, ; born 8 February 1992) is a Hungarian professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 31 on 4 March 2019. He is currently the No. 1 Hungarian player.

Early life

Fucsovics started to play tennis at the age of five. He came through the ranks quickly and at the age of 8 he played in a field 3–4 years older.

In 2003 Fucsovics won his age group National Championship and the Nike Junior Tour. With that he got the chance to represent Hungary on the World Final in Sun City, South Africa. Fucsovics also showed talent in basketball as a youth, but chose to make tennis his career path.

Junior tennis

Fucsovics's first major success came in 2009, when he won the US Open Boys' Doubles title, with Hsieh Cheng-peng of Chinese Taipei. In 2010 he reached the semi-final of the Australian Open Boys' Singles, and a few months later he won the Wimbledon Boys' Singles, defeating qualifier Benjamin Mitchell in a straight-sets final. Fucsovics did not lose a set throughout the entire tournament. He also participated in the doubles' event alongside Czech Libor Salaba, and reached the quarter-finals. Later that year he also reached the semi-final of the 2010 US Open – Boys' singles, in which he lost to Jack Sock.

Fucsovics was also an integral part of the Hungarian U-18 national tennis team. The team won the prestigious Galea/Valerio Cup in Venice to claim Hungary's first ever boys' European Summer Cups title. The other members of the team were Máté Zsiga and Levente Gödry.

Fucsovics worked his way to No. 1 in the ITF Junior Rankings in July 2010 and as a result entered the Youth Olympics as tournament's top seed. He suffered a surprise loss, however, in the first round, to eventual quarterfinalist Oliver Golding.

Senior career

2009–2016: Early career and first Challenger titles

In 2013 Fucsovics won two Challenger titles, the first in May at the Kunming Open and at the Andria Challenger in November.

In 2016 he qualified for his first Grand Slam at the US Open losing to Nicolás Almagro in three sets in the round of 128.

2017: Two Challenger titles and top 100

In 2017 he won two challengers for the first time since 2013 in June, the first during the Internazionali di Tennis Città di Vicenza and the second at Ilkley Challenger.

His success at Ilkley saw him win a wildcard into 2017 Wimbledon Championships main draw where he lost to the 16th seed Gilles Müller in the opening round. He also reached a career high ranking of 99, breaking into the top 100 for the first time.

In September 2017 he played a pivotal role in Hungary's promotion to the World Group winning 3 rubbers against favorites Russia.

2018: First Grand Slam fourth round, first ATP title, top 50

Fucsovics started his 2018 season at the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune, India. He lost in the second round to fourth seed Benoît Paire. Seeded sixth at the Canberra Challenger, he reached the final, but he ended up losing to seventh seed Andreas Seppi. Ranked 80 at the Australian Open, he won his first match in a Grand Slam main draw by defeating Radu Albot in the first round. In the second round, he upset 13th seed, Sam Querrey, in four sets. He ended up reaching the fourth round where he fell to world No. 2, five-time champion, and eventual champion, Roger Federer.

Representing Hungary in the Davis Cup tie against Belgium, Fucsovics lost both of his matches to Ruben Bemelmans and David Goffin. Hungary ended up losing the tie to Belgium 2-3. As the top seed at the Hungarian Challenger Open, he made it to the semifinals where he was defeated by Nicola Kuhn. In March, he competed at the Indian Wells Masters. He was eliminated in the second round by second seed and world No. 3, Marin Čilić. Seeded fourth at the Irving Classic, he reached the semifinals where he was beaten by Matteo Berrettini. In Miami, he lost in the first round to Maximilian Marterer.

Fucsovics started his clay-court season at the Grand Prix Hassan II. He lost in the first round to Malek Jaziri. At the Monte-Carlo Masters, he was defeated in the first round by Daniil Medvedev. Seeded sixth at the Hungarian Open, he was eliminated in the first round by German lucky loser Yannick Maden. At the BMW Open in Munich, he reached the quarterfinals where he lost to Maximilian Marterer. In Rome, he fell in the first round of qualifying to Italian wildcard Filippo Baldi. Fucsovics played one more tournament before Roland Garros. At the Geneva Open, he upset fifth seed, Albert Ramos Viñolas, in the first round. He then upset third seed and two-time defending champion, Stan Wawrinka, in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he beat sixth seed, Steve Johnson to reach his first ATP singles final. He won his first ATP singles title by defeating Peter Gojowczyk in the final. Due to him winning the title in Geneva, his ranking improved from 60 to 45. At the French Open, he won his first-round match over Vasek Pospisil. He lost in the second round to 16th seed and world No. 17, Kyle Edmund.

Fucsovics started his grass-court season at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart. He lost in the second round to seventh seed and eventual finalist, Milos Raonic. In Halle, he retired during his first-round match against Philipp Kohlschreiber.

2019: Second ATP final, Career-high ranking, top 40 debut

Fucsovics started his 2019 season at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. He lost in the second round to world No. 1 and two-time champion, Novak Djokovic. Seeded seventh at the Sydney International, he was defeated in the second round by Australian John Millman. Ranked 38 at the Australian Open, he lost in the second round to 11th seed and world No. 12, Borna Ćorić.

In February, Fucsovics competed at the Sofia Open. He upset eighth seed, Andreas Seppi, in the first round. He ended up reaching his third ATP singles final where he lost to third seed and world No. 16, Daniil Medvedev. In Rotterdam, he beat ninth seed and world No. 20, Nikoloz Basilashvili, in the second round. He fell in his quarterfinal match to top seed and world No. 7, Kei Nishikori. At the Dubai Championships, he made it to the quarterfinals where he lost to second seed, world No. 7, seven-time champion, and eventual champion, Roger Federer. Seeded 29th at the Indian Wells Masters, he was eliminated in the second round by 2017 finalist Stan Wawrinka. Seeded 29th at the Miami Open, he was beaten in the second round by qualifier Félix Auger-Aliassime, who would end up reaching the semifinals.

Fucsovics started his clay-court season in April at the Monte-Carlo Masters. He defeated 12th seed and world No. 17, Nikoloz Basilashvili, in the first round. He lost in the second round to Cam Norrie. At the Barcelona Open