18-Year-Old Fonseca Records Upset Win In Miami Even After Huge Stadium Controversy
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Joao Fonseca was able to block out the off-court noise and win his second-round match at the 2025 Miami Open.
The match between Fonseca and Ugo Humbert was supposed to be one of the blockbusters at Grandstand in Miami. Since the first match started at this stadium, hundreds of Brazilian fans watched, waiting for their hero to arrive.
Fonseca is an 18-year-old sensation, and there are thousands of tennis fans that want to see him. That was evident when his name was chanted at Grandstand even when other matches were played.
With the match between Jack Draper and Jakub Mensik slowly but surely getting to the final stages, even more Brazilian tennis fans attempted to get to the stadium, wanting to see the match of their teenage hero.
But during the second set of the match between Draper and Mensik, the tournament organizers made a very controversial decision. Because the matches at the Stadium court all finished faster than expected, there was a free slot to which they moved the match between Fonseca and Humbert.
That made it impossible for the hundreds of Brazilian tennis fans who had tickets bought for Grandstand to watch the match, and they made their voices heard.
The fans started loudly booing during the match between Draper and Mensik, suspending it for seven minutes, as they didn't allow the players to continue, voicing their displeasure with the decision.
In the meantime, Fonseca and Humbert were getting ready for their second-round meeting. They met only a few weeks ago at the Davis Cup, with the Frenchman winning that match.
This time, however, Fonseca started by winning the first eight rallies, giving himself a useful 2-0 lead. The Brazilian teenager then served exceptionally for the remainder of the set.
He won 16 out of 17 points after his first serve, and that made it impossible for Humbert to break back. The 18-year-old player won the first set 6-4.
Fonseca served even better in the second set. He lost only one point on his serve and broke Humbert's serve twice. It was almost a flawless performance from the Brazilian teenager who won the match 6-4, 6-3.
Speaking on the court after the match, Fonseca was very happy about his win. He recognized that he was able to stay more calm than his opponent, which helped him to win the match.
"When the crowd are with any player… they’re more hyped. Today, I started the match super relaxed. I didn’t have the nerves. He was more nervous. The pressure was more on him. I was just relaxed."
"Super good for today. I served well. Good service games. I had a quick break. He was a bit more nervous at the start. I started feeling really good. That was the difference today."
Fonseca will play against the winner of the match between the 10th-seeded Alex de Minaur and Yunchaokete Bu in the third round of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Miami.
