João Fonseca beat Canadian Denis Shapovalov, number 24 in the world rankings, in the first round of the Paris Masters 1000, with partial scores of 5/7, 6/4 and 6/3. The tournament belongs to the second level of the professional circuit, below only the four Grand Slams.
It was Fonseca’s first match after winning, on Sunday (26), the ATP 500 in Basel, the main trophy so far in the 19-year-old carioca’s precocious career, defeating the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, number 18 in the world.
In a very competitive first set, with both tennis players confirming their serves, errors in the decisive game weighed against the Brazilian. The Canadian managed the only break and closed at 7-5.
João tried to recover quickly and managed a break in the first game of the second set. The carioca maintained control of the actions, broke again and, despite suffering a break, tied the dispute with a score of 6-4.
The stands filled up during the game and, at the beginning of the third set, it was practically full. Shortly before the decisive stage began, João requested medical attention, spoke to a professional in the corner of the court, but returned to the game.
Straight away, the Brazilian broke the Canadian’s serve in the first game. Afterwards, João saved a sequence of “break points” and confirmed his serve.
With 2-1 in his favor, João once again signaled physical problems. He asked for medical attention on the court floor. On the way back, he closed the match in 2 sets to 1.
The victory in Switzerland elevated Fonseca to 28th place in the world rankings, his best position to date. Depending on the results of the other tennis players, it is likely that he will rise next week to at least 24th – exactly the position currently occupied by Shapovalov.
In the previous match between the Brazilian and the Canadian, last week, in the quarter-finals of the Basel tournament, there was a moment of stress between the two players. Shapovalov complained to the chair judge that, on at least two occasions, he was about to serve when the Brazilian asked him to wait.
This Tuesday’s game was played on court 1, the second main court of the tournament’s new venue, Arena La Défense, which was the venue for swimming at last year’s Olympics. Until last year, the tournament was held at the Arena de Bercy, which hosted artistic gymnastics in Paris-2024. The venue was considered small for a tournament of this size.
A good number of Brazilians, wearing national team and club shirts, were present to sing the now traditional cry of “Joããão Fonseeeca”. The athlete’s parents, Roberta and Christiano, were also present. They arrived in Europe in time to watch their son’s victory in the Basel final.
The two players already entered the court knowing that the winner would face in the second round the Russian Karen Khachanov, 14th in the world rankings, who easily defeated the American Ethan Quinn by 6/1 and 6/1. Khachanov was the champion of the Paris Masters 1000 in 2018, held in Bercy. The second round match is scheduled for Wednesday (29).
