Joao Fonseca admitted he was “angry” after a disappointing second-round exit at the Madrid Open. The 18-year-old has enjoyed a breakthrough season, becoming one of the hottest prospects on the ATP Tour, but he blew an opportunity to cause an upset at the clay Masters 1000 event.
Fonseca had set points in both sets he played against 11th seed Tommy Paul, but the American won 7-6(7) 7-6(3) shortly after midnight local time. While the Brazilian rues his missed chances, he’s keen to move on at next week’s Estoril Challenger.
The teenager was back in familiar territory this week. A year after making his Masters 1000 debut at the Madrid Open as the world No. 242, Fonseca returned as a new player, ranked inside the top 70 after lifting his first tour-level title earlier this season.
But Fonseca suffered the same fate, going out in the second round. The world No. 65 faced a big test against Paul in the last night session match on the main Manolo Santana Stadium on Saturday.
The Brazilian looked solid early on, forcing the 11th seed to save multiple break points and taking an early lead in the first set tiebreak. But he failed to convert both of his set points and Paul took the lead.
It was a similar story in the second set. With Paul serving to stay in it at 4-5, Fonseca had two break points that would have allowed him to win the set and force a decider.
Instead, they went to another tiebreak and the American world No. 12 sent Fonseca packing, avoiding an upset defeat. Afterwards, the teenager shared his frustration.
“It was a tough match, I had a lot of opportunities, but I couldn’t take them,” the world No. 65 told Terra.
“I had a lot of break points, some of which he played well, thanks to him and some to my disadvantage. I failed a lot at important moments, I was impatient, and that keeps me going.
“Obviously I’m angry after the match because I had opportunities, I had chances to win, I had chances to close out the first set, but I ended up not being able to. I’ll move on to the next tournament, prepare myself and go all out.”
Fonseca will now turn his attention to the Estoril Open. The 18-year-old was already signed up for the Challenger 175 event but his participation was in doubt when he reached the second round of the Madrid Open.
His loss came at the perfect time, allowing him to make it to Estoril before the main draw got underway. Fonseca isn’t the only one hoping to bounce back in Estoril.
World No. 19 Felix Auger-Aliassime took a last-minute wildcard into the tournament six hours after he suffered a shock opening-round exit in Madrid.
Auger-Aliassime reached the final at the Caja Magica last year and was defending 650 points as the reigning runner-up. Still, he lost to qualifier Juan Manuel Cerundolo on Friday and decided to head to Portugal. It will be his first Challenger Tour appearance since 2019.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk