Humbert, crushed by Fonseca: “The same feeling as against Alcaraz or Sinner”
Ugo Humbert leaves Miami with the feeling he had the worst possible draw, with Joao Fonseca being irresistibly powerful despite his age of 18
© Tennis Majors / Psnewz
Ugo Humbert knows how to recognise a player whose shots come off fast, very fast. That’s what he inflicts on his opponents most of the time. In 2024, he was the only player inside the top 10 of the fastest shot makers on the circuit for both forehand and backhand.
But facing the new terror of the tour, 18-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca, in his first match in Miami on Saturday, Humbert suffered a defeat (6-4, 6-3) that left its mark: “I’ve rarely played someone who plays so fast,” he told the press after the match (translated). “I already play fast, but he plays even faster. I had a bit of the same feeling as when I played against [Carlos] Alcaraz in the Davis Cup or [Jannik] Sinner in Rome.”
“He beat me everywhere,” continued the French left-hander. “He played a great match on the forehand side, where he didn’t give much away. I had the impression that he could hit a winning shot from any position.”
Humbert: “Fonseca is playing like a monster”
Humbert beat Fonseca in February in the Davis Cup (7-5, 6-3) following the Brazilian’s first breakthrough at the Australian Open, where he beat Andrey Rublev.
“But the conditions were different,” said Humbert. “Miami’s centre court is much slower than the other courts where I trained all week. As a result, he was able to return better. At Orléans, I didn’t think he was very good on the return. Here, he also served very well, even on those second balls. I’ve been told that I only scored four points on his serve. In Orléans, I still managed to exploit the opening points to be as aggressive as possible. But he missed a lot less than he did in Orléans. I was getting missiles on the return.”
Humbert didn’t agree with our observation that Fonseca was perhaps having one of those ‘in the zone’ days where everything just fell into place like a dream. “Frankly, he’s already playing like a monster. I’ve rarely played a guy who plays so well, so I have to say he’s already very strong, and he’s going to improve even more. I felt like I was being overpowered, but at no point did I say to myself: ‘Look, this guy is stronger… I tried until the end. At one moment, I turned to my team and said: ‘If I’m going to lose, I might as well give it my all.'”
