João Fonseca criticized the behavior of part of the public in his defeat to Serbian Hamad Medjedovic, on Saturday (9), at the Masters 1000 in Rome. The match was marked by stoppages due to the noise made by Brazilian fans, especially among players serving.
“There were a lot of stops. I’m not going to say that was the reason I lost, it wasn’t, but the fans really matter. I think the Brazilian fans sometimes think it’s a football game,” the 19-year-old Rio native told ESPN.
Medjedovic was quite irritated by the noise and began to adopt a hostile attitude towards the public. When the match ended in 2 sets to 1, partials of 3/6, 6/3 and 7/6 (7/1), the Serb asked for silence and made a “good night” gesture.
“It’s not just that it hinders the opponent, it also hinders me,” said Fonseca. “I love the fans, but I think there has to be a little limit, a little respect. It’s just a question, but I still love playing with the fans.”
The cry “Joãããão Fonseca” in support of the Brazilian has already become famous on the circuit. It wasn’t enough to avoid the young man’s third consecutive defeat, who was going through a good phase until consecutive falls in Munich, Madrid and Rome.
The Rio native will have the week free for training before the ATP 500 in Hamburg. The competition in Germany will be the last in the sequence on clay courts that precedes the French Open, a traditional tournament in the Grand Slam series held at the Roland Garros complex in Paris.
