João Fonseca, number 30 in the world, staged a great comeback this Wednesday (27) and advanced to the third round of Roland Garros. The Brazilian defeated Croatian Dino Prizmic by 3 sets to 2, with scores of 3/6, 4/6, 6/3, 6/1 and 6/2, after more than four hours of play in Paris. Now, the young tennis player will face Novak Djokovic, former top 1 and current third in the rankings, in the next phase of the tournament.
The beginning of the for João Fonseca. Prizmic, number 72 in the world, showed confidence in the service games and took advantage of the decisive moments of the first set to open up an advantage. The Brazilian even tried to put pressure on the returns, but the Croatian managed to break at the most important moment of the part and closed at 6/3.
In the second set, Fonseca raised the level and started to balance the exchanges from the back of the court. Still, Prizmic maintained regularity and managed to confirm services even under pressure. In a decisive game, the Croatian increased his returns, managed to break and won again, this time by 6/4.
The Brazilian’s reaction began in the third set. More aggressive, João started to control the points and took advantage of his opponent’s mistakes to achieve an important break. The Croatian still complained a lot about the refereeing after a controversial point, while the French fans increased their support for the Brazilian. Confident in the service games, Fonseca closed the partial at 6/3.
Brazilian dominance became even clearer in the fourth set. João twice, put pressure on the returns and took control of the match. The Croatian showed irritation on the court and accumulated mistakes in the face of the intensity of the Brazilian, who won with authority 6/1 and took the match to the fifth set.
The atmosphere on court 14 is crazy 🌋
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros)
In the decisive part, João maintained the momentum of the reaction. The Brazilian took an early lead after a spectacular break, which featured a quick start and impressive recovery at the same point. Confident in the service games and releasing aggressive blows from the back of the court, Fonseca opened 5-2 and came very close to victory. Prizmic still tried to resist, but the Brazilian confirmed his serve in the eighth game, closing the set at 6/2 and creating one of the biggest comebacks of his career.
The Brazilian’s next challenge will be against Djokovic, in a match scheduled for Friday (29) or Saturday (30), for .
