Joo Fonseca faces North American Aleksandar Kovacevic in his debut in Brasilia
Photo: Luiz Cndido/CBT
Brasilia DF) – Nine Brazilian players will play their debut matches at the Republic Open, in Brasília, this Tuesday. The ATP Challenger 100 tournament is played on the hard courts of the BRB Arena, close to the Nilson Nelson gym. Among the highlights of the round will be João Fonseca and Thiago Monteiro.
Fonseca enters the court at around 11:30 am (Brasília time). The 17-year-old from Rio de Janeiro and current number 1 in the youth world rankings faces the North American Aleksandar Kovacevic, 120th in the world and fourth seed. A little earlier, at 10am, Rio Grande do Sul’s Orlando Luz challenges the tournament’s 1st seed, Chile’s Cristian Garin.
Thiago Monteiro’s debut is scheduled for 5:30 pm against Fernando Romboli, who broke the quali in Brasília and has not played a singles draw since 2019. Monteiro was a finalist in the Montevideo challenger last Sunday, when he retired due to an injury to his right hand. He is still awaiting test results, but hopes to be able to play in his last tournament of the year.
“At one point during the game, I slipped on the court and ended up bending my hand as I fell. I strained my thumb, maybe it was a ligament or a crack in the bone, but I won’t know until I have completed the exams. I still have the tournament from Brasília to compete and depending on the exams, I’ll see if there’s time to recover”, said the Ceará native, through his advisor.
The second day of the tournament will also feature names like João Lucas Reis, Gustavo Heide, Pedro Sakamoto and also the national duel between Wilson Leite and Gilbert Klier. Two Brazilians were eliminated in the main draw debut this Monday: Gaucho Eduardo Ribeiro was beaten by Argentine Santiago Taverna 6/4, 5/7 and 7/5, while São Paulo’s Matheus Pucinelli lost to North American Nicolas Moreno From Alboran by double 6/3. The executioners face each other in the round of 16.
Check out this Tuesday’s schedule in Brasília.
Central Court – 10am
[1]Cristian Garin (CHI) vs. Orlando Luz (BRA)
[4]Aleksandar Kovacevic (USA) vs. [C]João Fonseca (BRA)
[Q]Wilson Leite (BRA) vs. [C] Gilbert Klier (BRA)
Gustavo Heide (BRA) vs. [2]Tomas Barrios Vera (CHI)
Not before 5:30 p.m.
[6]Thiago Monteiro (BRA) vs. [Q]Fernando Romboli (BRA)
Court 2 – 10am
[Q]Gonzalo Bueno (PER) vs. João Lucas Reis (BRA)
Valentin Vacherot (MON) vs. [LL]Blaise Bicknell (JAM)
[Q]Alejandro Tabilo (CHI) vs. [Q]Ignacio Buse (PER)
Bernard Tomic (AUS) vs. [9]Oliver Crawford (USA)
Court 3 – 10am
Tristan Boyer (USA) vs. [8]Guido Andreozzi (ARG)
Benjamin Lock (ZIM) vs. Renzo Olivo (ARG)
Juan Ficovich (ARG) vs. [Q]Pedro Sakamoto (BRA)
Court 4 – 10am
Hernan Casanova (ARG) vs. Roman Burruchaga (ARG)
Connor Huertas (PER)/Arklon Huertas (PER) vs. [C]Mateus Alves (BRA)/Gabriel Décamps (BRA)
[5]Thiago Tirante (ARG) vs. Facundo Bagnis (ARG)
