New Delhi: Young Brazilian tennis player Joao Fonseca on Sunday won the Argentina Open after rallying past local lad Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (1) at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club in the national capital city of the country. This was the maiden ATP Tour title for the 18-year-0ld promising talent and the accomplishment came in front of the boisterous crowd, who were rooting for Cerundolo.
After an early breakdown, the Brazil teenager took the lead at 5-4 and served for the first set. Fonseca’s serve was twice broken by Cerundolo, who is ranked at World No.28 in the ATP rankings, which is 71 spots higher than of the Rio-born player’s. Though the second set was forced into a tiebreak from the Argentine, Fonseca took the charge as he dropped just one point and bagged the trophy with an angled forehand, as observed by BBC Sport.
This also makes Fonseca as the youngest South American player to win a title since 1990 in the ATP Tour era. Moreover, Fonseca is the fourth youngest male player to lift the ATP since 2000 after Kei Nishikori, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz. Overall, he is the 10th youngest player to win the ATP title at the age of 18 years, five months and six days old.
“Unbelievable week, even in Argentina there are some Brazilians cheering for me,” an emotional Fonseca said. “That’s just amazing. Every Brazilian, everyone from their country wants this support from your own country. For me, this (moment) that I’m living is just unbelievable.”
“I want to thank my family, my friends and my sponsors for just helping me achieve my dream, which is to play tennis. Of course I want to be No. 1, of course I want to win Slams, titles, but my dream is just to play tennis, and I’m living it,” he added.
Fonseca had won the Next Gen ATP Finals at the end of last year. The tournament was for all the top male tennis players aged 21 and under. He garnered spotlight after defeating Russia’s ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the first round of the Australian Open.
Eighteen-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca secured his first ATP Tour title at the Argentina Open, defeating Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets. This win marks a historic achievement, making Fonseca the youngest South American to win an ATP title since 1990 and one of the youngest ATP winners overall since 2000. Tennis Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
