The only Brazilian representative in the men’s singles draw, Rio beat number 240 in the rankings by 3 sets to 0 and now faces Croatian Dino Prizmic (71st) in the second round
The Brazilian João Fonseca This Sunday (24) he beat Frenchman Luka Pavlovic in the first round of the Roland Garros main draw. The tennis player from Rio, currently number 30 in the world rankings, closed the game in 3 sets to 0, with scores of 7/6, 6/4 and 6/2.
Luka Pavlovic, 26, is ranked 240th in the ATP rankings and secured his place in the main draw after winning three matches in the qualifying phase. That was the first confrontation between the two athletes on the professional circuit. Pavlovic made his debut in the main draws of Grand Slams and had recently been defeated by another Brazilian, João Lucas Reis, in the Zagreb Challenger.
In the second round, João Fonseca will face Croatian Dino Prizmic (71st), who defeated North American Michael Zheng (145th), also by 3 sets to 0, with scores of 6/1, 6/1 and 6/3. The draw projection indicates that, if he reaches the third round, the Brazilian could face the Serbian Novak Djokoviccurrent number four in the world and holder of three titles at Roland Garros.
Fonseca arrived at Roland Garros after recovering from wrist pain that led him to withdraw from the ATP 500 in Hamburg. In an interview on the event’s media day, the athlete stated that he was fully recovered.
This is João Fonseca’s second participation in the French Grand Slam. In last year’s edition, the tennis player won two games, beating Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz and France’s Pierre Hugues-Herbert, before being eliminated in the third round by Britain’s Jack Draper. The Rio native is the only representative from Brazil in the men’s singles main draw in this edition.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
