Fonseca beats Italian and advances to the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 for the first time

Exuding maturity in decisive moments, João Fonseca surpassed former top 10 ranking Matteo Berretini and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters 1000. The Brazilian was dominant from the start of the match and showed solidity to beat the Italian by 2 sets a 0with partial 6/3 e 6/2in 1h35 of departure. With the result, the 19-year-old from Rio will face Alexander Zverevnumber 3 in the world, who defeated Zizou Bergs 2-0. The match takes place this Friday (10), with no set time yet.

This is the first time in which Fonseca advances to the quarterfinals in a Masters 1000 tournament. He joins Gustavo Kuerten e Thomaz Bellucci as the only Brazilians who reached this stage of the series. Guga won in Monte Carlo in 1999 e 2001.

This was only the second clash between Fonseca, 40th in the rankings, and Berrettini, 90th in the world and who received a wild card to compete in Monte Carlo. They previously faced each other in the Davis Cup World Group, with the Italian winning.

Just like in the victory against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech (27th), in the second round, João Fonseca adopted a aggressive stance from the beginning of the first set, opening with a winning ace, without letting Berrettini score and imposing on his opponent the Italian’s first lost game in the tournament – ​​Daniil Medvedev even broke his racket when taking a bicycle kick from the Italian in the previous phase.

Berrettini recovered from the initial pressure and prevented the break of serve in the second game. The Italian balanced the match with good serves and forehand strength, but Fonseca also demonstrated quality in returns e service effectiveness to stay ahead of his rival in a fierce battle in the opening set.

With partial 4/3 in favor of Fonseca, Berrettini tried to look for the back of the court to force the Brazilian to make a mistake, which demonstrated concentration e strength in returns on crossed balls to break the Italian’s service and open 5/3. The Brazilian maintained his solidity and, serving to close the first set, closed the game with an ace and took the lead with 6/3 after 35 minutes of play.

Berrettini opened the second set with aggressive serves and forcing the Brazilian to make a mistake, confirming the service and reducing the pressure. Afterwards, Fonseca had difficulty confirming his serve and almost missed seeing the Italian take a two-game lead, but the Rio native remained strong mentally and prevented the break point with refinement in his returns.

Fonseca forced the game on Berrettini’s left and managed to force the opponent’s error on the forehand, breaking the Italian’s serve and taking a 2-1 lead. Visibly uncomfortable, the Italian looked for short balls and managed to find his way back into the match to return the break soon after.

Despite the unfavorable moment, the Brazilian once again showed that he was mentally well enough to deal with the pressure. Fonseca once again imposed himself on Berrettini’s serve and broke the Italian’s serve. The Brazilian accelerated and took a 4-2 lead in the next game without difficulty.

Even with the greatest support from the fans, Berrettini was unable to recover and began to make consecutive mistakes. With patience, the Brazilian confirmed the break point and had the opportunity to serve to close the match. The carioca had the maturity to not give the Italian a chance, win from scratch and close the partial at 6/2.

*With information from Estadão Conteúdo