“I’m on the right path” – Fonseca happy with his Miami exploits
Joao Fonseca exited the Miami Open amid roaring support after losing to Alex de Minaur in the third round on Monday
© Julien Nouet / Tennis Majors
Joao Fonseca marched on in Miami fearlessly until he stepped on the court against Alex de Minaur in the third round on Monday.
Known for his grit and never-give-up attitude, De Minaur braved Fonseca and the Brazilian’s unabashed supporters to stage a comeback and make the Miami Masters last 16 after a draining two-and-half-hour-long battle (5-7, 7-5, 6-3).
The Aussie’s effort rightly impressed the 18-year-old, who rued missed chances against the world No 11.
“I mean, Alex is an experienced guy,” Fonseca said in his post-match press conference. “He knows how to play in the circumstances, with the crowd against him. Yeah, in the important points I had chances. I had opportunity to close the doors for him, but he took the opportunities that he had. I served 2-1 on the third. I had some opportunity to close. He broke me and he started playing better.
“I knew it was going to be difficult since the beginning because, well, he’s a top-10 player, he runs for every ball. He’s a great fighter. I knew I couldn’t finish the point from one ball. I needed to do three or four. Yeah, happy the way that I played this week. Unfortunately, it was not today. But yeah, we keep going.”
WARRIOR MODE 🔛@alexdeminaur finishes off an electric third-round victory over Joao Fonseca. #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/yz1iCee0Ha
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 25, 2025
Fonseca’s exploits over the past week included wins against No 19 seed Ugo Humbert (6-4, 6-3) and familiar foe Learner Tien (6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4)—the efforts he was pleased about.
“I mean, playing with the top players, you kind of know where’s your level,” the world No 60 added. “I really see that I’m [on] the right way, I’m [on] the right path, playing some good matches against top, top players. There is where I want to be. Happy the way I played those matches.
“Against Ugo, against Learner. There is the next promise, the next American promise. He’s playing some good tennis. Today against Alex I played a good match. It was only the little things, only an opportunity that he got it. I mean, learning? Is my second year on tour, so yeah, getting some new experiences.”
I felt really in Brazil. I knew it was going to be crowded, but I didn’t know it was going to be huge.”
Joao Fonseca
MAD RESPECT 🙌
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 25, 2025
Joao Fonseca's #MiamiOpen debut left us all wanting more! pic.twitter.com/vVHyc1B0tH
Fonseca attracted a lot of attention during his time in Miami, with his fans flocking to the stands at Hard Rock Stadium for his matches, thus, making the Brazilian feel at home:
“First impression here is just I felt really in Brazil. Not only the crowd, but, like, the organisation treated me like was in Brazil. So it was super cool. I really like the tournament. Probably one of my favorite tournaments now. I knew it was going to be crowded, but I didn’t know it was going to be, like, huge. Yeah, it was super nice being here.”
Also, the teenager learned about former world No 1 and eight-time Grand Slam champion Jimmy Connors’ ability to feed off the crowd’s energy and hoped to go through the American’s tapes and draw some inspiration.
“Actually, I never saw him [Jimmy Connors] play. But I know, of course, who he is. I didn’t know he loved playing with the crowd. But it’s a nice information. Maybe I can watch some videos.”
