Highly touted Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca rallied from a break down in the third set to beat Britain’s Jacob Fearnley 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 in his Indian Wells debut on Thursday while Emma Raducanu suffered an early exit.
Fonseca cruised through the first set before Fearnley found his groove in the second to level the match on a windy day in the California desert.
Fearnley raced out to a 3-1 lead in the third before Fonseca stepped up his shotmaking to reel off the final five games and finished the match in style with a dazzling lunge volley at the net on match point.
“It’s a pleasure being here on centre court at Indian Wells. It’s a dream,” said Fonseca, who received a wildcard into the tournament.
“People call it the fifth Grand Slam and I can understand why. It’s literally a paradise. So I am really grateful. Today was pretty difficult, very windy and I got through so I’m very happy,” he added.
There has been immense hype around the 18-year-old after he beat Andrey Rublev in straight sets at the Australian Open for his first win over a top-10 opponent and won his first ATP Tour title in Buenos Aires last month.
Fonseca, ranked 80th in the world, enjoyed the vocal support of the boisterous Brazilian fans on hand for the match at the ATP 1000 event.
“Everywhere I go there are some Brazilians watching and cheering for me,” he said.
Next up for Fonseca is another Briton, 13th seed Jack Draper.
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American Jenson Brooksby overcame a nightmare start and dug deep to defeat France’s Benjamin Bonzi 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 for his first ATP Tour win in two years.
Brooksby served a 13-month suspension for missing three drugs tests and was hampered by injury after his ban ended.
He made his return to tennis at this year’s Australian Open, where he lost in straight sets to compatriot Taylor Fritz in the first round.
Brooksby will next face 17th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada.
RADUCANU OUT
Raducanu’s struggles continued as the British former U.S. Open champion had no answers to the solid play of Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima who prevailed 6-3, 6-2 amid gusting winds.
Raducanu made the third round of the Australian Open in January but has since suffered first-round exits in Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.
During her second-round match in Dubai last month, the 22-year-old was moved to tears after noticing a stalker during the first set and ultimately lost to Karolina Muchova.
Raducanu, who was playing her first match under coach Vladimir Platenik, said she felt good mentally.
“I didn’t have what happened in Dubai in my head at all today,” she told reporters.
“If anything, like a bit of a lack of preparation on the tennis court, playing someone who played pretty good in these conditions. Extremely awkward in the wind here,” she added.
Uchijima will meet third seed Coco Gauff in the second round on Friday
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com