Rising star Joao Fonseca showed his true colours following his defeat to Jesper de Jong in the second round of the Estoril Challenger. The eighth seed has been in flying form this season but suffered his first Challenger loss of the season in devastating fashion.
De Jong was quick out of the blocks and secured a 6-2, 7-5 victory, putting an end to his opponent’s winning run in style. Speaking after his win, De Jong said: “I played one of my best performances ever I think. I came out flying and after I won the first game, the nerves went down. I managed to play without many mistakes.”
Despite the disappointment of being dumped out of the competition so early, Fonseca was gracious in defeat and rushed to congratulate his rival at the net after the match ended. The Brazilian then continued to interact with supporters in attendance in Portugal.
Footage showed that Fonseca stopped to take photos with supporters deep into the evening and would not hesitate to sign any memorabilia in a true show of class from the 18-year-old, who was determined to hide the disappointment of his defeat whilst enjoying time with his fans.
The teen has not been shy about speaking about his emotions after defeats though, admitting recently that he was ‘angry’ after his second-round exit at the Madrid Open.
He had set points in both sets he played against Tommy Paul, who has since been knocked out by British hopeful Jack Draper, but failed to land either point and suffered a 7-6(7) 7-6(3) defeat at the Manolo Santana Stadium.
Speaking after the loss, the world No. 65 said: “It was a tough match, I had a lot of opportunities, but I couldn’t take them. 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.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk