M 1000 MIAMI OPEN. By Emiliano Naftali
Joao Fonseca made a memorable debut at the Miami Open presented by Itau. Competing in his first ATP Masters 1000 event, the 18-year-old Brazilian capitalized on strong crowd support to secure victories over Learner Tien and 19th seed Ugo Humbert before falling in a hard-fought battle to Alex de Minaur, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3.
Although he fell short of claiming back-to-back wins against Top 20 opponents in the PIF ATP Rankings, Fonseca kept the enthusiastic Brazilian fans engaged during his Monday night showdown against the 10th seed. He departs with cherished memories after reaching the third round of an ATP Masters 1000 for the first time.
“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.”
Photo Gabriel Matteazzi
“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.”