Latest news with #NextGenATPFinals
New Straits Times
25-04-2025
- Sport
- New Straits Times
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
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jack Draper schools Brazilian upstart with brutal display at Indian Wells
The stadium court at Indian Wells drew a strong South American contingent on Saturday. The fans were looking for an early glimpse of Joao Fonseca: the 18-year-old Brazilian who won last year's Next Gen ATP Finals. But it was British No 1 Jack Draper who dominated the stage, giving a masterclass in how to subdue a flashy young talent. Continuing the excellent form he has shown all season, Draper brushed Fonseca aside in just 75 minutes. The second set of Draper's 6-3, 6-0 victory was a real schooling. On this evidence, the conditions in the Californian desert – where he had previously demonstrated his own rich promise by reaching the fourth round in 2023 – are well suited to his spin-heavy game. Draper varied his play skilfully, mixing up the trajectory of his ground strokes and tossing in plenty of drop shots to keep Fonseca off balance. A loopy cross-court forehand often set up a flatter and more decisive strike up the line. The scoreline does not quite convey the whole story, however, because Fonseca had undoubtedly rocked Draper in the early stages with his massive swings and wild-eyed ambition. Fonseca's returns were particularly punishing, and Draper did well to limit the damage to a single break of serve in a highly competitive first half-hour. Draper's anxiety receded after a crucial ninth game, in which he defended superbly and drew a series of cheap errors from his over-enthusiastic opponent. This was the second break of the Fonseca serve – which may also have owed something to a malfunctioning fire alarm that interrupted play for 20 seconds or so – and it changed the whole complexion of the match. From then on, we found ourselves watching an exhibition of Draper's tactical and technical mastery. Draper's dominance was all the more impressive because Fonseca has already convinced many tennis insiders that he is the next big thing: a talent to place alongside the young Carlos Alcaraz. This was only Fonseca's 17th match on the regular ATP Tour, but he had demonstrated his extraordinary potential by winning his maiden title in Buenos Aires three weeks ago. He also took out a top-10 opponent – Andrey Rublev – in the first round of January's Australian Open. As an indication of Draper's quality, this was comfortably the most chastening defeat that Fonseca has suffered in the 11 months since his tour debut in Portugal. It also featured the first 6-0 'bagel' set of his young career. 'It's amazing for the tour that we've got a really young superstar coming, especially from Brazil with such a big fanbase,' said Draper afterwards. 'It seems like every tournament he's going to, there's so many fans in the stadium. To be a part of that is really special for myself. 'I saw for myself that he's such an amazing talent, hits the ball so hard and he's only going to improve. Just a bit more experience at this level and he's going to be a top player very soon.' In the same interview, carried out by Karthi Gnanasegaram for Sky Sports, Draper said that he was mostly happy with his all-round performance. The only concern was his serve, which coughed up six double-faults, including three in a row as he served for the match at 6-3, 5-0. If he is to deliver a deep run, he will need to land more than 55 per cent of his first serves. 'I struggled last year a lot with my serve here,' said Draper. 'Conditions are very different. It's hard for the ball to come down [and] it flies quite a lot. I definitely served better today but there's still a lot of room for improvement, I'm glad I came through today so I can go and work hard on that.' This win earned Draper a third-round meeting with Jenson Brooksby, the American who was banned for most of last season after missing three doping tests. Draper made an interesting scheduling decision in the build-up to Indian Wells, skipping Dubai to manage his own workload. The sharpness of this performance suggests that it was the right call. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
08-03-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Jack Draper schools Brazilian upstart with brutal display at Indian Wells
The stadium court at Indian Wells drew a strong South American contingent on Saturday. The fans were looking for an early glimpse of Joao Fonseca: the 18-year-old Brazilian who won last year's Next Gen ATP Finals. But it was British No 1 Jack Draper who dominated the stage, giving a masterclass in how to subdue a flashy young talent. Continuing the excellent form he has shown all season, Draper brushed Fonseca aside in just 75 minutes. The second set of Draper's 6-3, 6-0 victory was a real schooling. On this evidence, the conditions in the Californian desert – where he had previously demonstrated his own rich promise by reaching the fourth round in 2023 – are well suited to his spin-heavy game. Draper varied his play skilfully, mixing up the trajectory of his ground strokes and also tossing in plenty of drop shots to keep Fonseca off balance. A loopy cross-court forehand often set up a flatter and more decisive strike up the line. The scoreline does not quite convey the whole story, however, because Fonseca had undoubtedly rocked Draper in the early stages with his massive swings and wild-eyed ambition. Fonseca's returns were particularly punishing, and Draper did well to limit the damage to a single break of serve in a highly competitive first half-hour. Draper's anxiety receded after a crucial ninth game, in which he defended superbly and drew a series of cheap errors from his over-enthusiastic opponent. This was the second break of the Fonseca serve – which may also have owed something to a malfunctioning fire alarm that interrupted play for 20 seconds or so – and it changed the whole complexion of the match. From then on, we found ourselves watching an exhibition of Draper's tactical and technical mastery. Draper's dominance was all the more impressive because Fonseca has already convinced many tennis insiders that he is the next big thing: a talent to place alongside the young Carlos Alcaraz. This was only Fonseca's 17th match on the regular ATP Tour, but he had demonstrated his extraordinary potential by winning his maiden title in Buenos Aires three weeks ago. He also took out a top-10 opponent – Andrey Rublev – in the first round of January's Australian Open. Draper hails arrival of 'really young superstar' As an indication of Draper's quality, this was comfortably the most chastening defeat that Fonseca has suffered in the 11 months since his tour debut in Portugal. It also featured the first 6-0 'bagel' set of his young career. 'I think it's amazing for the tour that we've got a really young superstar coming, especially from Brazil with such a big fanbase,' said Draper afterwards. 'It seems like every tournament he's going to, there's so many fans in the stadium. To be a part of that is really special for myself. 'I saw for myself that he's such an amazing talent, hits the ball so hard and he's only going to improve. Just a bit more experience at this level and he's going to be a top player very soon.' In the same interview, carried out by Karthi Gnanasegaram for Sky Sports, Draper said that he was mostly happy with his all-round performance. The only concern was his serve, which coughed up six double-faults, including three in a row as he served for the match at 6-3, 5-0. If he is to deliver a deep run, he will need to land more than 55 per cent of his first serves. 'I struggled last year a lot with my serve here,' said Draper. 'Conditions are very different. It's hard for the ball to come down [and] it flies quite a lot. I definitely served better today but there's still a lot of room for improvement, I'm glad I came through today so I can go and work hard on that.' This win earned Draper a third-round meeting with Jenson Brooksby, the American who was banned for most of last season after missing three doping tests. Draper made an interesting scheduling decision in the build-up to Indian Wells, skipping Dubai to manage his own workload. The sharpness of this performance suggests that it was the right call.
BBC News
27-02-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Teenage qualifier Tien stuns top seed Zverev
World number two Alexander Zverev suffered a shock early exit from the Mexican Open with a straight-set defeat against teenage qualifier Learner Open finalist Zverev, the top seed in Acapulco, put in an uncharacteristically error-strewn performance as American Tien won 6-3 19, beat Briton Cameron Norrie in the previous round and will face Czech Tomas Machac in the quarter-finals."I just went out there and tried to control my side of the court," said Tien."Obviously I knew it was going to be a tough match. To come through feels great... I think just focusing on what I can control and keeping my cool as best as I can has really taken me a long way."Tien is the youngest American man to record a victory against a top-three opponent since Andy Roddick in has enjoyed a memorable few months, reaching the final at the Next Gen ATP Finals in December before making it through to the fourth round at the Australian Open in is one of six seeds to exit the competition in the second Ruud, Tommy Paul and Holger Rune all pulled out because of a stomach bug, while Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe were beaten by David Goffin and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina finished runner-up at the ATP 500 event in 2024 but the second seed did not make it to the court for his encounter against local favourite Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez."I was hoping to overcome this stomach illness that showed up yesterday," Ruud said on Instagram."Hoping to come back stronger in a couple of days and come back here to Mexico next year."Rune, seeded fourth, began his match against Brandon Nakashima but had to retire while trailing 3-0 in the first set."Furious and so sad at the same time. Had food poisoning and was unable to play today," Rune said on X."One of my favourite places is Mexico and I love this tournament. Absolutely not the way I wanted it to end."
Nahar Net
17-02-2025
- Sport
- Nahar Net
Brazilian teenager João Fonseca wins his first tour-level tennis title
by Naharnet Newsdesk 17 February 2025, 15:02 Rising tennis star João Fonseca finished "an unbelievable week" with a straight sets victory over Francisco Cerúndolo in the Argentina Open final on Sunday to claim his first tour-level title. The 18-year-old Brazilian, who won the Next Gen ATP Finals last December, beat his Argentine opponent 6-4, 7-6 (1) on clay. Local fans in Buenos Aires provided a lively atmosphere at the final of the ATP 250 event which at times resembled an Argentina vs. Brazil soccer match. "This was just an unbelievable week for me," said Fonseca, who beat ninth-ranked Andrey Rublev in the first round of the Australian Open in January and is already looking to the future. "Of course I want to be No. 1, of course I want to win Slams, titles," he added, "but my dream is just to play tennis, and I am living it." The elite men's tennis tour said Fonseca became the first man born in 2006 or later to win an ATP trophy, the 10th youngest champion in ATP Tour history and the youngest South American player to win a title in the ATP Tour era (since 1990). Fonseca will rise to No. 68 in the rankings on Monday. One of his likely rivals in the near future also spoke about Fonseca's title in Buenos Aires. "Impressive, Joao," Carlos Alcaraz, the 21-year-old, four-time major champion, posted X. Earlier, former player and three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray used the same social media platform to boost the potential rivalry. "Can't wait for the first Fonseca vs Alcaraz match," he said. Former No.1 Boris Becker was also excited about the Brazilian's performance: "Watch this young man from Brazil. The sky is the limit..." Next week, Fonseca will play at home at the Rio Open tournament, an ATP 500. Last year, he reached the quarterfinals. Fonseca's first adversary will be Frenchman Alexandre Muller, currently the 58th-best ranked. Their match is scheduled for Tuesday.
