Young man defeated the Greek by 2 sets 1, partial 6/4, 3/6 and 7/5, in an electrifying match on Sunday (14); With the result, Brazilian tennis players get a place for the first round of the Davis 2026 Cup qualifiers
Under the watchful eyes of Legend Novak Djokovic in the stands of Oaka Spyros Louis in Athens, defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas by 2 sets 1, partial 6/4, 3/6 and 7/5, in an electrifying match on Sunday at 2:07. The result confirmed Brazil’s 3-1 win over Greece by the World Davis World Group I – earlier, the partnership Marcelo Melo and Rafael Matos had surpassed Petros Tsitsipas and Aristotelis Thanos in the pairs. With the result, Brazil got a place for the first round of the Davis 2026 Cup Qualifiers.
Faced with an aggressive opponent, João Fonseca had a solid beginning, with good returns at the bottom of the court, and got two break points to break the tsitsipa service in the first game. With a consistent withdrawal, the Brazilian released his arm and confirmed his services more easily than the host, which failed in the first withdrawal and did not hide irritation with each error.
Confident and better on the court, the world’s number 42 bothered Greek with its deep balls and, with 83% to 56% of the first service, gave no chance to the Greek idol. Both confirmed their services until the end and Fonseca closed the set on 6/4.
The second set started more balanced with the two tennis players alternating powerful withdrawals and confirming their services. When the score pointed 2/2, Tsitsipas requested medical attention in the locker room. The unexpected break cooled the momentum of the Brazilian, who had his service broken in the sixth game and allowed the home tennis player to open 4/2 in part – the Greek closed the partial 6/3.
The confrontation remained balanced in the third and decisive set, with good withdrawals – and difficulties in the return – on both sides. More experienced, Tsitsipas showed a wide repertoire and made it difficult for the Brazilian to life with shorts and short balls. Already Fonseca exaggerated in the strength in returns and ended up having his service broken in the fifth game – 3/2 for the Greek tennis player.
While Tsitsipas had the support of the fans and squandered confidence, punishing his opponent with low balls, Fonseca began to press and make more mistakes. The Greek managed the match with accurate withdrawals, confirmed his services, but when he drew for victory, he had the service broken by the Brazilian in the tenth game – a draw on 5/5.
In decisive games, Tsitsipas felt the blow and Fonseca recovered confidence, turning the scoring to 6/5 on the third set. The Brazilian put pressure on the former Top 3 and broke again the host service, with two match points, closing the set 7/5 and the game 2-1. “I’m very happy to win this match, as I stared at it, I was probably celebrated a lot. This is Brazil!”, Said the young man.
Brazilian domain in pairs
After each team added a victory on Saturday, Rafael Matos and Marcelo Melo entered the court against Petros Tsitsipas and Aristotelis Thanos, substitute for Stefano Tsitsipas, who chose to rest to face João Fonseca followed. 1h13 starting.
Favorite on the court, the experienced Brazilian partnership left behind, but soon began to print the pace of the match and turned to 5/1, with two breaks, before closing the first set in 6/2. In the following partial, Matos and Melo nullified Petros and, with peace of mind, again broke two host services to close the match with another 6/2.
*With information from Estadão Content
Posted by Carol Santos
