The second youngest to win two matches at the Indian Wells Masters 1000 this decade, João Fonseca reached, at the age of 19, an unprecedented milestone in tournaments of this level. This Sunday, the Brazilian, 35th in the world, gave the American Tommy Paul (24th) no chance, by 6/2 and 6/3. With this feat, in an unprecedented round of 16 match, the Rio native will challenge none other than the Italian Jannik Sinner, second in the ranking.
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2nd set: João Fonseca 6/3
- Without giving his rival a chance, the Brazilian finishes the game and makes history
- With a pass on the right parallel, João Fonseca breaks again and serves for the game at 5/3
- Paul shows resistance, but the Brazilian confirms (4/3) and vibrates.
- With difficulties, the host draws the partial at 3/3.
- Brazil's number 1 confirms from zero and turns to 3/2.
- Pushed by the fans, the carioca returns the break and serves at 2/2.
- This time without any difficulties, the Brazilian confirms the serve.
- The American confirms from zero and opens 2/0.
- Paul earns his first break of the game and will serve at 1/0.
- João Fonseca starts on serve.
1st set: João Fonseca 6/2
- The Brazilian continues to press, achieves another break and closes at 6/2. Right awaythe number 1 in the country calls for medical attention.
- João risks returning serve and wastes the first set point.
- Coach Guilherme Teixeira's pupil continues to be on the court and opens 5/2.
- With his second ace of the game, the host reduces the deficit to 4/2.
- Firm on groundstrokes, Brazil's number 1 has yet another break. But he misses the serve return and wastes the chance.
- The Brazilian makes his first ace of the match and opens 4/1.
- Paul comes out of the hole and reduces the deficit to 3/1.
- On the ropes, the host serves at 0/40 and saves three more breaks.
- Without any fear, the 19-year-old from Rio de Janeiro opens 3/0.
- João Fonseca takes advantage the second break and wins the break. He will serve at 2/0.
- Paul saves the first break in the second game.
- Brazil's number 1 confirms the service, and the fans shout 'João Fonseca'.
- The Brazilian starts by serving the game.
- João Fonseca and Paul are already on the court.
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Sinner faces the Brazilian
With this Sunday's major victory, the Brazilian will face, on Tuesday, the vice-leader of the ranking, the Italian Jannik Sinner, who eliminated the Canadian Denis Shapovalov.
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The Brazilian also spoke about his next rival:
– It goes without saying that Sinner is a giant player. He has already won several tournaments, he and Alcaraz are winning everything, so it's time to rest tomorrow and return to the court on Tuesday. I'll try to push him as much as possible. It will be a pleasure to play against one of the best players in the world, and I will try to win.
With the Brazilian's triumph over Russian Karen Khachanov, on Saturday, in the second round (video below), only the leader in the rankings, Carlos Alcaraz, has won two matches in Indian Wells younger than João Fonseca in the last 10 years. In 2022, the Spaniard was just 18 years old when he achieved this feat.
João Fonseca saved two match-points in the second round
In the match against the Moscow-born tennis player (16th in the world), Brazil's number 1 saved two match-points in the second set tiebreak.
In February last year, João Fonseca also won a match after saving two match-points. It was against Argentine Mariano Navone, in the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires. That week, at 18 years old, the Rio native became the youngest in the country to win a tournament of this level.
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Source: https://www.lance.com.br/tenis/ao-vivo-joao-fonseca-enfrenta-tommy-paul-na-terceira-rodada-de-indian-wells.html
