Madrid (Spain) – The Brazilians continue with 100% success at the start of the Masters 1000 in Madrid. After the victories of Thiago Wild last Tuesday and Thiago Monteiro at the beginning of the round this Wednesday, it was João Fonseca’s turn to also advance in the tournament on clay courts in the Spanish capital. Invited by the organizersFonseca beat the North American Alex Michelsen, 70th in the world, with partial scores of 4/6, 6/0 and 6/2 in 2 hours of play.
At 17 years old, Fonseca has the best ranking of his career, occupying 242nd place. The victory in his debut in Madrid, his fifth in the circuit’s elite and his first in Masters 1000, earns the Rio native 30 ATP points. And with that, he approaches 220th position. In the second round, the Rio native faces the British Cameron Norrie, a 28-year-old left-hander and 30th in the rankings.
With Fonseca’s victory, Brazil also now has three different players winning Masters 1000 games, something still unheard of since this series of tournaments was established in 1990. Even if two victories are considered in the same tournament of this size, the highest records Recent events date back to the beginning of the last decade, such as the Indian Wells tournament in 2011, with Thomaz Bellucci in the third round and Ricardo Mello in the second round.
Difficult start to the match for the Brazilian
The start of the match was difficult for Fonseca, especially in moments when he needed to play with the second serve. The carioca suffered two consecutive breaks and lost 4/0. Furthermore, he had few chances on his opponent’s serve and even saved another break-point in the fifth game of the match.
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After finally confirming a service game and coming out of zero on the scoreboard, Fonseca relieved the tension and seemed more comfortable on the court and started to command more points with his forehand. He also started to vary his positioning a little on returns, sometimes being very far from the baseline. The Brazilian returned one of the breaks and reduced the difference to 4/3 and even saved two set points. But the slow start to the match and some unforced errors after starting the reaction cost him the loss of the partial. Fonseca finished the set with more winners, 13 to 11, and made 14 errors compared to just 9 from the North American.
Break at the beginning of the second set started the reaction
Right at the opening of the second set, Fonseca managed a break of service and gained confidence in the match. Firm in long-distance rallies and with more and more initiative to control the points, he was facing a rival who was no longer sustaining so many rallies. And with that, he dominated the partial, with two new breaks. Furthermore, he only gave up four points in service games. The Brazilian scored triple the winners, 9 to 3, and made just 4 errors compared to his rival’s 8.
Fonseca also showed enormous maturity in the third set by achieving a new break of service early on and winning 3/1. In the next game, he saved four break-points and increased his advantage, betting on serves with higher bounce that made it difficult for his rival to return. After that, the Brazilian continued without taking risks in his service. And facing a rival who has only one victory on clay at ATP level, he maintained control of the match and broke again to win the game. Fonseca led the winners count 30 to 21 and made 26 errors against 33.
