Hungarian Zsombor Piros has been one of the hardest players to beat on the ATP Challenger Tour this clay-court season. The 23-year-old won back-to-back Challenger titles in April at the Split and Oeiras Challengers and this week looks to qualify for his maiden major main draw at Roland Garros.

If Piros is not competing on court, you can find him creating memories with friends and family or playing football, darts, and card games. The Hungarian may even recollect a magic trick he learned as a teenager.

“When I was 14, I had a good two or three years doing magic tricks. I was very obsessed with it,” Piros told ATPTour.com. “I’m not doing that obsessively like a few years ago, where I would learn for two or three hours a day, card tricks, coin tricks, ring tricks, mental tricks.”

While a series of magic tricks could have left Piros’ friends with their jaws dropped, it was a 10-match winning streak for the loss of just one set that left the World No. 125 surprised in April, when he captured back-to-back Challenger titles in Split, Croatia and Oeiras, Portugal.

^{Zsombor Piros defeats Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the Oeiras Open 3 final. Credit: Sara Falcão/FPT}

“I’m speechless honestly, I’ve never won this many matches in a row at this level,” Piros said in Oeiras after winning the title. “I actually surprised myself with these results. I think the second step is just believing I can play this level and not to think it happened just once. It [will] give me big confidence for the future. I have some great memories on court, but I think this is the most important [one] now. It’s the most special.”

Piros is not the only 23-year-old Hungarian on the rise this year. Fabian Marozsan, who was born five days before Piros, upset World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz last week at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome.

Marozsan, World No. 115, and Piros grew up together and partnered to represent their home country in Davis Cup doubles action against Australia in 2021.

“We are practising together in the same place, we grew up together going to all the tournaments in Hungary and all of Europe,” Marozsan said of his countryman.

One of Piros’ most memorable moments came when he was a teenager, travelling to the biggest venues in the sport for junior Grand Slam events.

The Budapest native went on a dream run to win the 2017 Australian Open boys’ singles title. He became the second Hungarian male to win a junior Grand Slam title, joining Marton Fucsovics, who won the 2010 Wimbledon boys’ singles crown. The Melbourne memory still fills Piros with excitement.

“It was one of the most powerful emotions for me. Even now when I remember [it], I have goosebumps,” Piros said. “Hundreds of Hungarians were there, singing songs for me… I almost played the qualifying for that tournament and I was almost the last one in the main draw, so we expected one or two wins.

“But then for weeks I didn’t realise I had just won a Grand Slam, even though it was just a junior title. It’s still one of the best emotions I’ve ever experienced on the tennis court. It’s still very close to my heart.”

^{Zsombor Piros earns the 2017 Australian Open boys’ singles crown. Credit: Pat Scala/Getty Images}

Around the time he triumphed in Australia, Piros was hooked on darts. He would sometimes throw 800 to 1,000 darts a day. But that quickly came to an end when he realised his shoulder was so stiff the following day that he struggled to serve.

Since winning his junior title in Melbourne, Piros has been developing his game on the Challenger Tour. His hard work has reaped four Challenger trophies within the past year.

“I think I’ve played like 70 Challenger tournaments,” Piros said. “I think there is a big difference from Futures to Challengers, especially the mentality. Everybody’s nonstop in the gym, having everything on the court like new racquets, everything professional.

“You have to give 100 per cent for every shot, being there and fighting for every point, otherwise you can’t be successful at this level. Every point counts. Sometimes if you show bad emotion for just a few points, it can be the end of your tournament. It’s a very tough level.”

Piros hopes to find more success this week in Paris, where he is seeded 13th in the Roland Garros qualifying draw and will meet Dominik Koepfer in the opening round.

Nineteen-year-old Frenchman Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg made a successful start to his Roland Garros campaign on Monday when he defeated 27th seed Denis Kudla 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of qualifying.

The teen has not yet played a tour-level match, but he did not show his lack of experience against a veteran in Kudla, who has competed in 200 tour-level matches. The home favourite saved 11 of the 12 break points he faced and converted all three of his opportunities to advance after one hour and 32 minutes.

Another teen, Chinese 18-year-old Shang Juncheng, set the wheels in motion for a run at this year’s Roland Garros when he moved past former World No. 19 Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-4.

The #NextGenATP star struck 28 winners on the Parisian clay to advance after one hour and 16 minutes. Shang, who reached the second round of the main draw at the Australian Open on his Grand Slam debut in January, will next play Fabian Marozsan. The Hungarian, who defeated Carlos Alcaraz in Rome, moved past Australian Li Tu 6-3, 6-4.

Dominic Stricker, who competed at last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals, also moved on. The Swiss lefty eliminated Dutchman Jelle Sels 7-6(5), 6-3. The 20-year-old, currently eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race, has captured two ATP Challenger Tour titles this season. He will next meet Dalibor Svrcina after the Czech ousted Swiss Leandro Riedi 6-4, 6-4 in a battle of Next Gen ATP Finals contenders.

Spaniard Pedro Martinez beat Belgian Kimmer Coppejans 6-3, 6-1, while Argentine Facundo Bagnis downed Italian Luciano Darderi 6-3, 6-4. Martinez has made four main draw appearances at Roland Garros, where he reached the third round in 2020.

In other action, Giulio Zeppieri defeated former World No. 16 Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 6-1 and Jurij Rodionov overcame Brandon Holt 7-6(2), 6-4. The 2021 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor Juan Manuel Cerundolo beat Zachary Svajda 7-6(4), 6-3 and Zizou Bergs downed former World No. 21 Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4.

Wu Yibing is finding his footing on clay. After earning his first tour-level win on the surface in Rome, he earned another on Monday in Geneva.

The Chinese star saved one match point en route to a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(6) victory against home favourite Marc-Andrea Hustler in the first round of the Gonet Geneva Open.

“[He is] a very tough opponent to play against. It’s the first time we played each other and of course he is from here, there’s more people cheering for him,” Wu said in his on-court interview. “But I’m glad I [pulled] through these ups and downs, especially the first few games in the second set. I made like 10 double faults in a row, which shouldn’t happen. [I will] try to be better next time.”

Wu, who hit seven double faults in the match, found his best when it mattered most. Huesler earned match point at 6/5 in the final-set tie-break, but Wu played aggressively and finished off the point at the net with an overhead.

“I’m very happy,” said Wu, who will next play 2018 Roland Garros semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato. “It’s my first time here playing Geneva, first time for me here in Switzerland and it’s a beautiful country. First few days I practised and I tried to visit the city a little bit. You guys have amazing watches and chocolate!”

In other action, former finalist Nicolas Jarry continued his love affair with the Geneva ATP 250 event. The Chilean, who lost against Alexander Zverev in the title match in 2019, defeated Banja Luka champion Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round.

Jarry, currently No. 52 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, reached the semi-finals on clay in Rio de Janeiro in February before he lifted the title in Santiago in March. He will next play Italian qualifier Stefano Travaglia or Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.

Eighth seed Adrian Mannarino defeated Serbian Filip Krajinovic 7-5, 6-1 to advance to the second round in Geneva for the second time. The 34-year-old snapped a four-match losing streak with his 13th tour-level win of the season. Mannarino will next meet Guido Pella or Ilya Ivashka.

Spaniards Bernabe Zapata Miralles and Roberto Carballes Baena also advanced. Zapata Miralles downed Ukrainian qualifier Vitaliy Sachko 6-2, 6-4, while Carballes Baena beat countryman Daniel Rincon 6-4, 4-6, 6-0. Rincon was making his second tour-level appearance after coming through qualifying.

The third and final clay-court ATP Masters 1000 event of the season saw Daniil Medvedev lift the title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, while several Top 100 stars enjoyed deep runs.

ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings as of Monday, 22 May 2023.

View Pepperstone ATP Rankings

No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, +1 (Joint Career-High)
The Spaniard has returned to top spot once again following his exploits on the clay in Madrid and Rome. The 20-year-old lifted his fourth ATP Masters 1000 title in Madrid and returned to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings after playing his opening match in Rome, where he reached the third round.

No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, +1
The 27-year-old has climbed to No. 2 after he won his maiden clay-court title in Rome. Medvedev dropped just one set en route to his sixth ATP Masters 1000 crown, defeating Holger Rune in the final. Medvedev has captured five titles this season and earned a Tour-leading 39 wins.

No. 6 Holger Rune, +1 (Career High)
The Dane has moved to a career-high No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings after he advanced to his third ATP Masters 1000 final. The 2022 Paris champion, who reached the title match in Monte-Carlo last month, defeated Top 5 stars Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud in Rome. He will head to Roland Garros 13-3 on the clay-court season.

Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 13 Hubert Hurkacz, +2
No. 26 Jan-Lennard Struff, +2 (Career High)
No. 28 Francisco Cerundolo, +3
No. 38 Ugo Humbert, +12
No. 46 Tomas Martin Etcheverry, +15 (Career High)
No. 55 Gregoire Barrere, +8 (Career High)
No. 64 Yannick Hanfmann, +37 (Career High)
No. 67 Max Purcell, +20 (Career High)
No. 73 Marco Cecchinato, +10
No. 75 Christopher Eubanks, + 11 (Career High)
No. 76 Nuno Borges, +12
No. 78 Arthur Rinderknech, +11
No. 79 Luca Van Assche, +6 (Career High)
No. 80 Marton Fucsovics, +12
No. 84 Alexander Shevchenko, +9 (Career High)
No. 96 Aleksandar Vukic, +32 (Career High)

Brandon Nakashima earned his first tour-level win since March on Monday when he moved past Argentine Diego Schwartzman 7-5, 6-3 to reach the second round at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon.

The 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals champion has struggled to find his best form this season, falling in the first or second round at all six previous events he has played this year. The eighth-seeded American looked sharp on the clay in Lyon, though, striking his groundstrokes with aggression to advance after two hours and two minutes on tournament debut.

After earning his fourth win of the season, Nakashima will next face Arthur Rinderknech after the Frenchman defeated South African qualifier Lloyd Harris 6-4, 6-2.

#NextGenATP Frenchman Arthur Fils defeated China’s Zhizhen Zhang 6-3, 6-2 to continue his impressive season.

The 18-year-old had not earned a tour-level win before this year, but his 74-minute victory against Zhang was his seventh win of the season at this level, with the teen overpowering the World No. 70.

Earlier this year, Fils reached semi-finals in Montpellier and Marseille, before he came through qualifying to advance to the second round in Rome. The 18-year-old, who is currently fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race, will next play Mikael Ymer or Richard Gasquet.

In other action, fifth seed Miomir Kecmanovic snapped a three-match losing streak when he defeated Spanish lucky loser Oriol Roca Batalla 6-1, 6-3. The Serbian won 83 per cent (20/24) of his first-serve points and did not face a break point to triumph after 74 minutes.

Kecmanovic will next meet Briton Jack Draper. Kecmanovic is chasing his first title of the season this week, having advanced to finals in Delray Beach and Estoril earlier this year.