Joao Fonseca picked up his first ATP Masters victory when he beat fellow teenager Alex Michelsen 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 and now prepares to face the Briton Cameron Norrie to compete.
The 17-year-old came to serve at 3-1 in the deciding set and fended off four break points to maintain his lead, sealing his victory in two hours and a minute.
The Brazilian made his 2023 ATP Tour debut in Rio de Janeiro as a 16-year-old wildcard and now faces one of his biggest tests yet when he takes on Norrie live on Saturday Sky Sports.
The former junior No. 1, who was a quarterfinalist on home soil in Rio de Janeiro and last week in Bucharest, climbed to No. 222 in the ATP rankings.
“I’m very, very happy with the way I played,” said Fonseca, who won 61 percent of his return points on second serves.
“I was super nervous in the first set. [He didn’t have to] play, I was missing at first. At the start of the second set I felt better.
“The audience really helped me [make] This transition is intended to be more solid. The audience helped a lot.
“In the second set I just tried to be more stable and I think he was more tense than me in the second set. I played well.”
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Tennis has always been an important part of Fonseca’s life. He grew up ten minutes from the Rio Open venue, where his mother took him to play on clay courts.
In 2023, he was invited to the Nitto ATP Finals as a hitting partner, training alongside Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner.
Fonseca wasn’t the only teenager to perform in Madrid. On Thursday, 16-year-old Darwin Blanch received a wildcard into the main draw, where his first-round opponent was Rafael Nadal, the “King of Clay.”
Nadal dominated Blanch to claim a masterful 6-1, 6-0 victory in the opening round of the Madrid Open, securing victory in just 63 minutes.
After his tour debut on home soil in Miami, Lefty Blanch made only his second appearance at the ATP Masters 1000 in five weeks.
In 2023, Blanch was the ninth-ranked junior in the world before receiving a wildcard into the Miami Open, where he played Thomas Machac in the opening round. He also reached the semi-finals of the Wimbledon boys’ singles last year.
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Watch highlights of the Madrid Open match between Rafael Nadal and Darwin Blanch
Since Roger Federer announced his retirement in 2022, tennis has seen a changing of the guard, with 22-year-old Sinner and 20-year-old Alcaraz calling the shots.
This change will only become clear when Nadal, 22-time Grand Slam champion and record five-time winner in Madrid, completes his farewell tour. He has previously said that 2024 will likely be his final season.
Last month, Norrie suffered an early exit from the Monte-Carlo Masters and was beaten by world number 113 Mariano Navone in the semi-finals of the Rio Open in February.
Despite Norrie’s experience, Fonseca will put him through his paces when the two meet on Saturday. The teenager has already proven himself in Madrid and now has the chance to claim a famous victory over the Brit.
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What can you expect from Sky Sports Tennis?
Ahead of the second Grand Slam of 2024 – the French Open in Roland Garros from May 26th – you can watch all the big tennis stars in action Live on Sky Sports as they compete against each other throughout the clay court season.
- Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (ATP and WTA Masters 1000) – 7th – 19th May
- Geneva Open (ATP 250) – 20-26 May
- Lyon Open (ATP 250) – 20-26 May
- Strasbourg International (WTA 500 with Emma Raducanu in action) – 20-2. May
- Morocco Open (WTA 250) – 20-26 May
Here’s how to watch tennis matches on Sky Sports
The tennis stars will appear daily on the new Sky Sports Tennis channel
Sky Sports has confirmed a new home for tennis in the UK and Ireland with Sky Sports Tennis on Sky and NOW, bringing tennis content to fans all day, every day.
Sky Sports will broadcast more live tennis than anywhere else and over 4,000 matches from more than 80 tournaments per year on the ATP and WTA tours, as well as full coverage of the US Open, all exclusively live.
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Discover all the ways to watch tennis on Sky Sports, including the US Open, ATP and WTA tours
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