Joao Fonseca left a lasting first impression at the Miami Open presented by Itau. In his debut at the ATP Masters 1000, the 18-year-old Brazilian rode a wave of crowd support to wins against Learner Tien and 19th seed Ugo Humbert before bowing out with a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 defeat to Alex de Minaur.
While he was denied a second consecutive victory against a Top 20 opponent in the PIF ATP Rankings, Fonseca continued to thrill the many Brazilian fans in attendance for his Monday evening match against the 10th seed. He leaves with fond memories after advancing to his first ATP Masters 1000 third round.
"My first impression here is just I felt really [like I was] in Brazil," he said. "I mean, not only the crowd, but the organisation treated me like I was in Brazil. So it was super cool. I really like the tournament.
"I knew it was going to be crowded, but I didn't know it was going to be, like, huge. Yeah, it was super nice being here."
Brazilian fans support Joao Fonseca in Miami. Photo by Peter Staples/ATP Tour.
Fonseca fed off the crowd support throughout the match, particularly late in the third set as he mounted a comeback bid. After surrendering an early break advantage in the deciding set, the 18-year-old battled to 30/30 as De Minaur served out the match.
"I just wanted to entertain. It probably was going to be my last minutes this year in Miami, so I was just enjoying," he said of his interactions with the fans in the closing stages.
"It was 30/15 for him. People were [chanting] 'Joao Fonseca!' I was just fighting there: 'OK, let's go.' I got to 30/30 with a great point. I called [on the fans] again. Maybe I could break him. After, I was going to be hyped.
"I was just enjoying the moment. I was looking at my coach, just laughing, just enjoying. Those moments are cool. I mean, it's my job, but it's the job that I love, so you need to enjoy sometimes."
Sneak Attack By R̶o̶g̶e̶r̶ FONSECA 😉@MiamiOpen | #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/tqE6JkQtiB
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After three tough matches in Miami, Fonseca is pleased with the level he showed against some of the ATP Tour's best. After a comeback, three-set win against Learner Tien (whom he also beat twice at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF last December), the Brazilian earned his first Lexus ATP Head2Head win in two matches against Humbert and played De Minaur for the first time.
"Playing with the top players, you kind of know where's your level [is]," he said. "I really see that I'm on the right way, in the right path, playing some good matches against top, top players. There is where I want to be. I'm happy the way I played those matches."
With the European clay-court swing to look forward to, Fonseca is eager to continue learning on the job: "Everything is new. I need to get used to everything," he said.
"It's going to be new experiences. I need to adapt. Of course I'm going to play my tennis, the aggressive tennis that you guys know. Now on clay. It's going to be nice. It's going to be a great experience."
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