Teen star Fonseca becoming a grand slam seed slayer
Brazilian teenager João Fonseca is making a habit of drawing big crowds at tennis tournaments - and of beating seeded opponents in his Grand Slam debuts.
Fonseca, the 2023 US Open junior champion and currently ranked 65th, played his first match in the main draw of a major at the Australian Open in January, when he knocked off No.9 seed Andrey Rublev.
On Tuesday the 18-year-old delighted a loud and overflowing group of spectators at 1500-capacity Court 7 and won the first French Open match of his nascent career, brushing past 30th-seeded Hubert Hurkacz 6-2 6-4 6-2.
In doing so he became the second-youngest men's match winner at the clay-court major in the past 10 years, behind only an 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in 2021.
"I'm young, and I'm getting the experience of everything now," said Fonseca "So I'm learning a lot from this circuit and this environment."
Last year's champion at the Next Gen ATP Finals, Fonseca needed just one hour, 40 minutes to wrap up the victory, producing more than twice as many winners, 36, as unforced errors, 15, and repeatedly delivering booming forehands.
"I mean, he's (got) a very powerful game," said Hurkacz, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2021 by beating Roger Federer in the last match of the 20-time major champion's career. "He's definitely an all-around player and can develop a lot. It's difficult to play against him."
All along, Fonseca heard plenty of support from the Brazilians who haven't had a Grand Slam champion to cheer for since Gustavo Kuerten was winning three French Open titles in 1997, 2000 and 2001.
In the month after the Australian Open Fonseca won his maiden tour-level title in Buenos Aires and he now boasts an 11-7 tour-level season record.
Brazilian teenager João Fonseca is making a habit of drawing big crowds at tennis tournaments - and of beating seeded opponents in his Grand Slam debuts.
Fonseca, the 2023 US Open junior champion and currently ranked 65th, played his first match in the main draw of a major at the Australian Open in January, when he knocked off No.9 seed Andrey Rublev.
On Tuesday the 18-year-old delighted a loud and overflowing group of spectators at 1500-capacity Court 7 and won the first French Open match of his nascent career, brushing past 30th-seeded Hubert Hurkacz 6-2 6-4 6-2.
In doing so he became the second-youngest men's match winner at the clay-court major in the past 10 years, behind only an 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in 2021.
"I'm young, and I'm getting the experience of everything now," said Fonseca "So I'm learning a lot from this circuit and this environment."
Last year's champion at the Next Gen ATP Finals, Fonseca needed just one hour, 40 minutes to wrap up the victory, producing more than twice as many winners, 36, as unforced errors, 15, and repeatedly delivering booming forehands.
"I mean, he's (got) a very powerful game," said Hurkacz, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2021 by beating Roger Federer in the last match of the 20-time major champion's career. "He's definitely an all-around player and can develop a lot. It's difficult to play against him."
All along, Fonseca heard plenty of support from the Brazilians who haven't had a Grand Slam champion to cheer for since Gustavo Kuerten was winning three French Open titles in 1997, 2000 and 2001.
In the month after the Australian Open Fonseca won his maiden tour-level title in Buenos Aires and he now boasts an 11-7 tour-level season record.
Brazilian teenager João Fonseca is making a habit of drawing big crowds at tennis tournaments - and of beating seeded opponents in his Grand Slam debuts.
Fonseca, the 2023 US Open junior champion and currently ranked 65th, played his first match in the main draw of a major at the Australian Open in January, when he knocked off No.9 seed Andrey Rublev.
On Tuesday the 18-year-old delighted a loud and overflowing group of spectators at 1500-capacity Court 7 and won the first French Open match of his nascent career, brushing past 30th-seeded Hubert Hurkacz 6-2 6-4 6-2.
In doing so he became the second-youngest men's match winner at the clay-court major in the past 10 years, behind only an 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in 2021.
"I'm young, and I'm getting the experience of everything now," said Fonseca "So I'm learning a lot from this circuit and this environment."
Last year's champion at the Next Gen ATP Finals, Fonseca needed just one hour, 40 minutes to wrap up the victory, producing more than twice as many winners, 36, as unforced errors, 15, and repeatedly delivering booming forehands.
"I mean, he's (got) a very powerful game," said Hurkacz, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2021 by beating Roger Federer in the last match of the 20-time major champion's career. "He's definitely an all-around player and can develop a lot. It's difficult to play against him."
All along, Fonseca heard plenty of support from the Brazilians who haven't had a Grand Slam champion to cheer for since Gustavo Kuerten was winning three French Open titles in 1997, 2000 and 2001.
In the month after the Australian Open Fonseca won his maiden tour-level title in Buenos Aires and he now boasts an 11-7 tour-level season record.
Brazilian teenager João Fonseca is making a habit of drawing big crowds at tennis tournaments - and of beating seeded opponents in his Grand Slam debuts.
Fonseca, the 2023 US Open junior champion and currently ranked 65th, played his first match in the main draw of a major at the Australian Open in January, when he knocked off No.9 seed Andrey Rublev.
On Tuesday the 18-year-old delighted a loud and overflowing group of spectators at 1500-capacity Court 7 and won the first French Open match of his nascent career, brushing past 30th-seeded Hubert Hurkacz 6-2 6-4 6-2.
In doing so he became the second-youngest men's match winner at the clay-court major in the past 10 years, behind only an 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in 2021.
"I'm young, and I'm getting the experience of everything now," said Fonseca "So I'm learning a lot from this circuit and this environment."
Last year's champion at the Next Gen ATP Finals, Fonseca needed just one hour, 40 minutes to wrap up the victory, producing more than twice as many winners, 36, as unforced errors, 15, and repeatedly delivering booming forehands.
"I mean, he's (got) a very powerful game," said Hurkacz, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2021 by beating Roger Federer in the last match of the 20-time major champion's career. "He's definitely an all-around player and can develop a lot. It's difficult to play against him."
All along, Fonseca heard plenty of support from the Brazilians who haven't had a Grand Slam champion to cheer for since Gustavo Kuerten was winning three French Open titles in 1997, 2000 and 2001.
In the month after the Australian Open Fonseca won his maiden tour-level title in Buenos Aires and he now boasts an 11-7 tour-level season record.
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The 16-year-old son of Australia's former world No.1, who had gone through qualifying to make the event at Roland Garros, proved a handful on Sunday for Italian Pierluigi Basile, two years his senior and higher-placed in the world junior standings, before succumbing 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-3. Hewitt lost the tightest of opening sets on a breaker and looked practically down and out as Basile served for the match at 5-3 in the second set and earned a match point at 5-4, but the Sydney youngster fought tigerishly to turn it around and take the match into a decider. The Italian had the superior firepower but Hewitt wouldn't lie down, revving up the the galleries packed round the tight court No.4 with the sort of crowd-rousing exhortations taken straight from his father's book. Ultimately, he lost in two hours 10 minutes, unable to reach the second round as he had done at the junior event in January at the Australian Open, where he also lost in the first round in the qualifiers for the senior event. On Monday, 16-year-old Emerson Jones, the world's No.2 female junior, kicks off her campaign as top seed in the girls' event against US qualifier Capucine Jauffret, while the other Australian in the boys' tournament Ty Host will face US sixth seed Benjamin Willwerth. Hewitt wasn't the only son of a famous player to feature in Sunday's program, with fifth seed Jagger Leach, whose mother is American former triple grand slam winner Lindsay Davenport, beating Kazakh Zangar Nurlanuly 6-1 1-6 6-0. Cruz Hewitt has rekindled memories of his dad Lleyton's battling heyday as he went down fighting in his first-round contest in the boys' event at the French Open. The 16-year-old son of Australia's former world No.1, who had gone through qualifying to make the event at Roland Garros, proved a handful on Sunday for Italian Pierluigi Basile, two years his senior and higher-placed in the world junior standings, before succumbing 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-3. Hewitt lost the tightest of opening sets on a breaker and looked practically down and out as Basile served for the match at 5-3 in the second set and earned a match point at 5-4, but the Sydney youngster fought tigerishly to turn it around and take the match into a decider. The Italian had the superior firepower but Hewitt wouldn't lie down, revving up the the galleries packed round the tight court No.4 with the sort of crowd-rousing exhortations taken straight from his father's book. Ultimately, he lost in two hours 10 minutes, unable to reach the second round as he had done at the junior event in January at the Australian Open, where he also lost in the first round in the qualifiers for the senior event. On Monday, 16-year-old Emerson Jones, the world's No.2 female junior, kicks off her campaign as top seed in the girls' event against US qualifier Capucine Jauffret, while the other Australian in the boys' tournament Ty Host will face US sixth seed Benjamin Willwerth. Hewitt wasn't the only son of a famous player to feature in Sunday's program, with fifth seed Jagger Leach, whose mother is American former triple grand slam winner Lindsay Davenport, beating Kazakh Zangar Nurlanuly 6-1 1-6 6-0. Cruz Hewitt has rekindled memories of his dad Lleyton's battling heyday as he went down fighting in his first-round contest in the boys' event at the French Open. The 16-year-old son of Australia's former world No.1, who had gone through qualifying to make the event at Roland Garros, proved a handful on Sunday for Italian Pierluigi Basile, two years his senior and higher-placed in the world junior standings, before succumbing 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-3. Hewitt lost the tightest of opening sets on a breaker and looked practically down and out as Basile served for the match at 5-3 in the second set and earned a match point at 5-4, but the Sydney youngster fought tigerishly to turn it around and take the match into a decider. The Italian had the superior firepower but Hewitt wouldn't lie down, revving up the the galleries packed round the tight court No.4 with the sort of crowd-rousing exhortations taken straight from his father's book. Ultimately, he lost in two hours 10 minutes, unable to reach the second round as he had done at the junior event in January at the Australian Open, where he also lost in the first round in the qualifiers for the senior event. On Monday, 16-year-old Emerson Jones, the world's No.2 female junior, kicks off her campaign as top seed in the girls' event against US qualifier Capucine Jauffret, while the other Australian in the boys' tournament Ty Host will face US sixth seed Benjamin Willwerth. Hewitt wasn't the only son of a famous player to feature in Sunday's program, with fifth seed Jagger Leach, whose mother is American former triple grand slam winner Lindsay Davenport, beating Kazakh Zangar Nurlanuly 6-1 1-6 6-0.
