Courtesy: ATP/X
Brazilian Joao Fonseca, who is heralded as one of the most promising stars in tennis, has won his first ATP Tour title at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires on Sunday, February 16. The 18-year-old got the better of the home favourite Francisco Cerundolo in a tough battle on clay, winning the contest in straight sets with a scoreline of 6-4, 7-6(7-1) in front of a noisy crowd gathered inside the stadium in the Argentine capitals last evening.
With a world ranking of 99, Joao Fonseca was battling a player who was 79 places higher than him in the ATP standings, but he showed great composure, mixed with a lot of intensity against Francisco Cerundolo. It led to him winning the Argentine Open in front of rowdy fans, which means that he is going to jump 68 places in the ATP world rankings before taking part in the Rio Open at home starting on Monday.
Even in Argentina there are Brazilians cheering for me. That's amazing: Joao Fonseca
Notably, Joao Fonseca is the fourth youngest men’s player to win an ATP title in singles since the year 2000, finding himself in esteemed company of players like Kei Nishikori, Rafael Nadal, and Carlos Alcaraz, as per the report in BBC Sport. With that, he also entered the top 10 list of the youngest champions in the history of the ATP tour, and first player born after 2005 to become a title holder.
Watch here:
In the post-match interview, Joao Fonseca was quite appreciative of the Brazilian crowd showing up to support him in neighbouring Argentina. He was quoted as saying, “Even in Argentina there are Brazilians cheering for me. That's amazing. What I'm living is just unbelievable. I want to thank my friends and sponsors for helping me achieve my dream - to just play tennis.”
Moreover, it was Jannik Sinner, who had told Joao Fonseca to play tennis professionally after having a great time with him in a practice session in 2023.
