Marton Fucsovics likes the bubble life, and the way he's playing

In a challenging period off the tennis court, Marton Fucsovics is taking advantage of the time he has on his favorite playground.

Since the ATP tour resumed in mid-August, the 28-year-old Hungarian has traveled to play in just two cities, New York and Paris. Yet, including qualifying at the Western & Southern Open, Fucsovics has played 11 matches, and has on the winning end of nine.

While there isn’t much celebrating to do away from the competition circle as a result of strict COVID-19 protocols, the lack of distractions has played into the 28-year-old’s favor.

“The bubble life. Actually, I kind of like it. I’m playing well during this period,” Fucsovics told TENNIS.com. “There’s not much to do. We come to the court, we practice, we eat, we go back to the hotel, watch some movies, eat again, go to sleep. There’s really nothing that can take my attention away from tennis. I like it so far.”

Nicolas Gouhier / FFT

At the start of the season, Fucsovics came out swinging. He qualified and reached the quarterfinals in Doha. Then, to begin his Australian Open campaign, he outslugged then-No. 13 Denis Shapovalov in four sets. Fucsovics backed up that victory by outclassing Shapovalov’s fellow rising talents Jannik Sinner and Tommy Paul in straight sets, before seeing his second appearance in the round of 16 come to an end against Roger Federer.

The five-plus month shutdown essentially forced players to start their seasons again, and as in pre-pandemic times, Fucsovics has been factor as an unseeded floater. In the span of 11 days, the Hungarian twice defeated Grigor Dimitrov at Flushing Meadows, and after losing in the third round of the US Open, flew home to recuperate a minor injury. Having bowed out in the first round of Roland Garros the year prior, Fucsovics and his coach agreed that skipping Rome and Hamburg to be “100 percent healthy” for a shot to add considerable points in Paris was the best route to take. It’s more than paid dividends.

When the draw came out, Fucsovics’ name landed directly below the No. 4 seed, Daniil Medvedev. The 24-year-old Russian had advanced to the US Open semifinals for the second year in a row, yet arrived in Paris with a five-match losing streak on clay. Fucsovics exploited the opportunity to take down another Slam contender by imposing himself as the player in charge. He would secure his second career main-draw win at the clay-court major, deflating the fifth-ranked Medvedev, 6-1, in the fourth set to grab a long-awaited victory over a Top 10 opponent.

“Finally I can show that I can beat them, I can beat the Top 10 players, I can beat the next superstars of tennis,” says Fucsovics. “This gives me a lot of confidence. Now I believe that I can also make it to the Top 10. I want to make it in the next years.

“I'm playing [some] of my best tennis this year. I'm in the top 100 [for] three years. I'm very happy to compete against these guys.”

A straight-sets win over Albert Ramos-Vinolas would serve as the consolidation to his Medvedev break of serve. On Saturday, Fucsovics found Thiago Monteiro across the net for the conclusion of the third round. The two traded four successive breaks to begin proceedings, but from there, Fucsovics was successful in the rest of his trips to the line after adjusting to the conditions and his opponent’s offerings.

“It's not easy to win your service games. [In the] beginning of the match, the weather was a bit cold,” he says. “I had to get used to the serves, to his returns. After that, after this first set, I found the rhythm, the right tactics in my service games. That was the key.”

Nicolas Gouhier / FFT

One of the hottest players coming into the clay-court major now stands between Fucsovics and a first-time voyage to the last eight of a major: Andrey Rublev. The 23-year-old has his sights on a breakthrough moment of his own after picking up where he left off in March, reaching his third US Open quarterfinal before putting together an eight-match unbeaten streak on clay. During that stretch, the Russian beat Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas in succession to lift the Hamburg trophy, and wiped away a 6-7 (5), 6-7 (4), 3-5 deficit to overcome Sam Querrey in his Roland Garros opener.

With a clinical 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win against Kevin Anderson on Saturday, Rublev also appears to be peaking at the right time. Fucsovics won their lone tour-level meeting in 2017 during a Davis Cup play-off in a gritty five-setter. Both players have developed considerably since that time, setting up the potential for an even better sequel.

“We were different players. Right now he's just about to break in the Top 10,” says Fucsovics. “I got more mature. I have more experience. I'm fit now, fitter than ever.”

The last ATP player from Hungary to appear in the round of 16 at Roland Garros was Balazs Taroczy, 36 years ago. Taroczy progressed to the quarterfinals in 1976 and 1981.

“I'm looking forward to play a good match against [Rublev],” says Fucsovics, “try to break through, finally, to the quarterfinals.”