Joao Fonseca vs. Learner Tien had the atmosphere of a second-week Grand Slam match. And that’s probably where we will see the ensuing chapters of their rivalry sooner rather than later.
This time, though, it was the first round of a Masters 1000 tournament. It was the best matchup of the entire Miami Open first round on paper and that is exactly what it turned out to be on the court, too. Fonseca survived a 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-4 thriller that lasted two hours and 23 minutes in front of intensely engaged crowd on Thursday night.
Technically it was Tien who had home-court advantage as an American, but that was never going be the case in Miami–which might as well be the northern part of South America. To say that the Brazilians were out in force to support their 18-year-old superstar would be an understatement.
“Am I in Brazil?” is how Fonseca signed the camera lens following his big win.
“I knew it was going to be a difficult match,” Fonseca assured. “I knew Learner was going to fight until the end, he’s a great fighter. He knows how to play, he’s very smart. So I needed to go until the end and I just went to it hard and the Brazilian crowd was with me today.
“I always try to be aggressive with my forehand. When I was younger, I went to my forehand when the important points came and it’d go directly to the fence. Now I’m working a little bit more to be aggressive and solid at the same time. In the important points, I go with my forehand where I have confidence. Very happy and proud of myself the way I put in the hard work on court.”
Fonseca now leads the head-to-head series against Tien 3-0 on the main tour and 4-1 overall also counting juniors. The world No. 60 will face Ugo Humbert in the second round on Saturday.
nice one, Fons