MELBOURNE, Australia — João Fonseca definitively launched himself to the world as the most recent teen sensation in males’s tennis on Tuesday evening, upsetting No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev 7-6 (1), 6-3, 7-6 (5) within the first spherical of the Australian Open.
It was fairly a debut in the primary draw of a Grand Slam match for the 18-year-old Brazilian, who’s ranked 112th and made it into the bracket at Melbourne Park by successful three matches in qualifying rounds final week.
The victory over 10-time main quarterfinalist Rublev, who’s 27, lasted slightly below 2 1/2 hours and stretched Fonseca’s present unbeaten run to 14 matches. That features taking the title final month in Saudi Arabia on the Subsequent Gen ATP Finals for high gamers who’re underneath 21, and one other trophy this month at a lower-tier Challenger match in Canberra.
These inside tennis have been preserving tabs on 2023 US Open junior boys’ champion Fonseca for a bit, intrigued by his huge serve, booming groundstrokes and funky demeanor. All of these qualities, and extra, have been on show towards Rublev in Margaret Court docket Enviornment, the second-biggest stage in Melbourne.
Fonseca obtained to match level with a backhand winner that he celebrated by elevating his proper index finger in a No. 1 gesture and nodding his head. Then he ended it with a down-the-line forehand, spreading his arms broad and tossing his head again.
“I imply, not dangerous,” have been Fonseca’s first phrases throughout his on-court interview afterward.
That drew a smile from him and supportive laughter from the stands, the place there have been loads of followers sporting his residence nation’s flag.
“I simply loved each second on this court docket, this superb court docket,” he continued. “My first time enjoying in a huuuuge stadium.”
Hitting serves at as much as 133 mph, Fonseca delivered 14 aces and had only one double fault whereas saving 5 of the six break factors he confronted.
He accrued 51 complete winners, 18 greater than Rublev, a quarterfinalist in Melbourne three of the previous 4 years and Fonseca’s first opponent ranked greater than No. 20.
“I used to be simply focusing [on] my sport, attempting to place no strain on myself, enjoying [against] a top-10 man,” Fonseca mentioned. “I used to be simply enjoying my sport and, nicely, now we’re within the second spherical.”
He’ll subsequent face Fifty fifth-ranked Lorenzo Sonego, who obtained previous three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka in 4 units earlier Tuesday.
Requested the important thing to his robust play within the tiebreakers towards the far-more-experienced Rublev, Fonseca mentioned he tries to make use of “all of the depth in the details,” “go for the pictures” and present “braveness.”
He additionally cited 20-time main champion Roger Federer as an inspiration.
“Like Roger says: ‘Expertise will not be sufficient.’ … So I put [in] a whole lot of onerous work,” Fonseca mentioned. “Simply me and my workforce is aware of that.”
