Joao Fonseca, 18, wins Madrid opener with Tommy Paul up next
MADRID: Brazilian 18-year-old Joao Fonseca took down Danish qualifier Elmer Moller 6-2, 6-3 in a tidy 73 minutes in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Thursday in Spain.
Fonseca outstripped Moller 5-0 in aces and pushed Moller to break point 13 times. Though Moller managed to save nine of those, he couldn't keep up with the rising star who won the Next Gen ATP Finals title last winter.
"I love playing on clay," said Fonseca, currently the highest-ranked player from Brazil. "I was born on the clay, so I like to play on it, even with altitude. I like to focus on my serves and play aggressive, so feeling good this week.
"Me and my team felt it was a time to rest a little bit, focus, be at home, rest mentally. Then come here to do the clay season. Very happy with this win today."
While Fonseca committed 26 unforced errors to counteract his 16 winners, Moller managed just 10 winners with 28 unforced errors.
Up next for Fonseca is a second-round meeting with American No. 11 seed Tommy Paul.
No seeded players were in action on Thursday, but a few familiar names were in the spotlight. Cameron Norrie of Great Britain won a two-hour, 41-minute marathon against Spanish wild card Martin Landaluce 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-4.
Once ranked as high as No. 8 in the world, Norrie is now No. 91. He revealed after his match that he was battling an illness before Thursday rolled around.
"I was feeling absolutely terrible. I wasn't sure I was going to play, I had no energy, didn't sleep at all last night," Norrie said. "I started very low energy, sleeping on the court still. I had to create my own energy. He actually played really well, I know he's a really good player, so I had to fight every point."
Italy's Lorenzo Sonego beat Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4, 7-6 (5), while fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi overcame Croatian qualifier Borna Coric 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Canadian lucky loser Gabriel Diallo swept Belgium's Zizou Bergs off the court in 57 minutes, 6-1, 6-2. American Reilly Opelka had a more balanced battle with Australian lucky loser Rinky Hijikata but prevailed 7-5, 7-5.
Other winners included British qualifier Jacob Fearnley, Italy's Luciano Darderi, Bosnia and Herzegovina's Damir Dzumhur, Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry, American Marcos Giron, Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands, Chile's Nicolas Jarry and Japan's Kei Nishikori.
Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany led Dutch lucky loser Botic van de Zanschulp 7-5, 2-6, 4-1 when van de Zandschulp retired. Frenchman Alexandre Muller was ahead 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 when Belgian opponent David Goffin retired. --AFP
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