Young stars put on thrilling show at Miami Open

Photo by Peter Staples/ATP Tour

By Harvey Fialkov

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Next Gen stars Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien shined under the lights Thursday night at the Miami Open presented by Itaú in front of a raucous crowd that had Hard Rock Stadium rocking for the first time this week.

The future became now as the two teenagers put on a dazzling show that had the fans singing, hugging each other and dancing in the aisles.

But it was the 60^th-ranked Fonseca, the 18-year-old Brazilian, that was clearly the crowd favorite, particularly those wearing his country’s yellow soccer jerseys. When his final serve of the breezy night was swatted into the net, Fonseca, sporting a bright, yellow hat and wristbands, raised his arms after a 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4 victory over his 19-year-old friend.

The crowd began chanting his name: “Joao Fonseca, Joao Fonseca!” He then wrote on the courtside camera: “Are we in Brazil?”

Not since Brazilian great Guga Kuerten, a former No. 1 in the early 2000s, has the tennis-crazed country has a tennis hero. They do now.

“I mean 80 percent of the stadium were Brazilians,’’ said Fonseca, who defeated Learner twice (in short sets) to win the Next Generation round-robin ATP Finals last December. “I was really feeling at home. … I’m very grateful for the Brazilian crowd coming here and chanting my name, for being loud, so it really helped me to win this match.

“He’s a great player, very solid, smart so he knows how to play those circumstances,’’ added Fonseca, whose coach is Guilherme Teixeira and consultant Franco Davin.

The teenybopper matchup was the youngest main draw match in Miami since Alexander Zverev beat Michael Mmoh in a battle of 18-year-olds in 2016.

After splitting sets that were filled with pulverizing forehands and delicate drop shots, Fonseca again drew first blood with an early break. But after Tien held for 2-3, Fonseca became nauseous and seemed ready to vomit. Chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani called for a doctor and a trash bag. Fonseca was given a few pills and play continued.

“I was walking to serve and Mohamed said, ‘Oh man, you look white, and asked if I needed a doctor,’’ he said. “After the pills, I felt a little bit better. … I think it’s nothing but stress, maybe some tension during the match.”

Fonseca didn’t skip a beat, coming up with lunging, backhand volley winner and a combination drop shot and volley to maintain a 4-2 advantage. Both held easily until serving at 5-4, 30-15, Fonseca seemed to twist his leg while stretching for a volley.

He said he felt a twinge in his knee when his feet stuck on the court.

“It was nothing to stress, but when I did it, I [asked myself], ‘Am I hurting, nothing, OK, I’m ready,’ ’’ chuckled Fonseca, who notched 43 winners to 31 errors, while Tien nearly matched him with 40 winners and 35 errors. “It was an important point. After, I served really well and was focused to finish the match.”

He wrapped up the thrilling 2:23 high-quality match with a high forehand volley winner and unreturnable first serve to elicit fiesta time on Stadium Court.

Tennis great and TV analyst Jim Courier couldn’t remember a better atmosphere for a first Thursday match in Miami.

The pro-Fonseca crowd didn’t seem to deter the laid-back, 5-foot-11 Californian, as the smaller Tien showed off Djokovic-like defensive skills to force his stronger opponent to smack three winners to earn his points. Tien, a left-hander, utilizes guile and angles, while Fonseca is more about brute power from both sides.

Fonseca, who is now 26-4 since December across all levels, won his maiden ATP (250) title in Buenos Aires last month and after losing to eventual champion Jack Draper in the second round at Indian Wells, squeezed in a title in a Phoenix Challenger where he downed Alexander Bublic, a former No. 17, in the final.

Tien, ranked 66^th, announced his major league arrival by reaching the round of 16 in the Australian Open with a five-set upset of No. 5 Daniil Medvedev in the second round. He then got to the quarterfinals of Acapulco (500) with wins over Cameron Norrie and No. 2 Alexander Zverev.

Tien, who has easy power on his forehand, saved 7-of-8 break points to force a tiebreaker in which he rolled to a 7-1 victory — mostly on Fonseca errors – to take the first set.

“I knew it would be very difficult, but I needed to stay,’’ Fonseca said. “Me and my team were fighting a lot to win those mental matches and physical. It’s very important for the players to be more confident to show that it’s not only tactical; it’s physical and mental and with heart. OK, I need to go point by point and game by game and that’s what I did. The crowd was helping me a lot to break him in the second set.”

However, Fonseca vaporizes his forehands. He drew regular roars from the crowd as he roared back to take the second set and force a decisive third.

He once again grabbed an early break as he began conducting the fired-up gallery with regular waves of his arms while screaming a Nadal-like ‘Vamos,’ on some of his electric winners.

Fonseca said when he was an11-year-old boy growing up in Rio de Janeiro, he had to choose between tennis or soccer. He never thought he’d be a pro but once he won the 2023 US Open Juniors, beating Learner in the finals, he decided to pick tennis. Apparently, he made the correct choice.

Elsewhere

The battle for Japan supremacy never took place as 64^th-ranked Kei Nishikori pulled out of his first-round meeting with countryman 68^th-ranked Yoshihito Nishioka with a sore back. Lucky loser Hugo Gaston got the last-second call and took advantage of it when Nishioka retired after trailing, 6-4, 3-1, with a sore shoulder.

Gaston was warming up with Yunchaokete Bu of China early Thursday when he received the happy text from the ATP that he was back in the draw as a Lucky Loser after dropping his second-round qualifying match to Billy Harris. Bu also prevailed, 6-4, 6-2 over slumping Brit Cameron Norrie, the 2021 Indian Wells champion, who has seen his rank drop from No. 8 in September 2022 to 81^st.

Reilly Opelka, 27, who has missed most of the past two seasons with a hip injury, has seen his rank drop from 17^th in 2022 to 114^th, is playing with a protective ranking and made it count Thursday morning with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory over Chris Eubanks in a battle of huge-serving Americans on Stadium Court.

Opelka will play Indian Wells finalist Holger Rune, the 11^th seed, in the next round. The two haven’t met.

The top-seeded men don’t begin play until Friday with No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, No. 4 Djokovic, No. 7 Medvedev, No. 9 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 12 Tommy Paul all slated to begin their Miami run.