Fonseca, once again at home, eliminates Humbert from Miami

Brazilian Joao Fonseca moved into the third round of the Miami Masters by winning against Frenchman Ugo Humbert, the No 19 seed, 6-4, 6-3 at the Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday.

With the win, Fonseca avenged his Davis Cup loss in February to Humbert (7-5, 6-3) in Orléans.

Recalling the match-up, the Brazilian suggested he, unlike in Orléans, benefitted from the crowd support in Miami.

“It was super different,” Fonseca said in his post-match presser. “I mean, the court was super faster. It was much faster there. The crowd was for his side. He likes to play for the crowd. Same as me. I like to play for the crowd. Today the crowd was big for the Brazilians. That was a big difference.

“On the match, I think I started in the beginning of the points, the return plus-one and the serve plus-one, I did much better putting more pressure, going for the shot, put him on the defense. I was more aggressive. Yeah, in France, he commanded the points. He was going more for the shots. I was just far back from the baseline. So that was the difference today.”

Fonseca, ranked No 60, will face the winner of the match between Australian Alex De Minaur, the No 10 seed, and Chinese Bu Yunchaokete next.

The 18-year-old Brazilian is one of the most followed figures of this Miami Open after he edged out American Learner Tien (6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4) in front of a wild Brazilian crowd.

On Saturday, he happened to be scheduled once again on the Center Court after two matches of the women’s draw, Paolini – Jabeur, and Sabalenka – Ruse, were shortened because of injuries.

Miami Masters 1000, other second-round results (Hard Rock Stadium, hard, USD 9.193.540, most recent results first):

• Alex De Minaur vs. Yunchaokete Bu
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. Frances Tiafoe
• Arthur Fils vs. Gabriel Diallo
• Zizou Bergs vs. Andrey Rublev
• Matteo Berrettini vs. Hugo Gaston
• Holger Rune vs. Reilly Opelka
• Roman Safiullin beat Alexei Popyrin (25): 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-5
• Jakub Mensik beat Jack Draper (6): 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3)
• Denis Shapovalov (27) beat Thiago Agustin Tirante (Q): 6-3, 6-7 (1), 7-6 (3)
• Jordan Thompson beat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (28): 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1)
• Tomas Machac (20) beat Matteo Arnaldi: 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
• Taylor Fritz (3) beat Lorenzo Sonego: 7-6 (2), 6-3
• Alexander Zverev (1) beat Jacob Fearnley (Q): 6-2, 6-4
• Chak Lam Coleman Wong (WC) beat Ben Shelton (13): 7-6 (3), 2-6, 7-6 (5)
• Adam Walton (LL) beat Luciano Darderi: 6-4, 6-4
• David Goffin beat Carlos Alcaraz (2): 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
• Francisco Cerundolo (23) beat Alexandre Muller: 6-1, 6-2
• Tommy Paul (12) beat Alexander Bublik: 5-7, 7-5, 6-4
• Sebastian Korda (24) beat Eliot Spizzirri (WC): 6-4, 6-2
• Brandon Nakashima (31) beat Roberto Carballes Baena: 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
• Alejandro Tabilo (30) beat Corentin Moutet: 5-7, 6-3, 7-5
• Novak Djokovic (4) beat Rinky Hijikata: 6-0, 7-6 (1)
• Gael Monfils beat Jiri Lehecka (26): 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (8)
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (9) beat Chun-Hsin Tseng (Q): 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
• Jaume Munar beat Daniil Medvedev (7): 6-2, 6-3
• Camilo Ugo Carabelli (LL) beat Alex Michelsen (32): 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-3
• Karen Khachanov (22) beat Nick Kyrgios: 7-6 (3), 6-0
• Grigor Dimitrov (14) beat Federico Cina (WC): 6-1, 6-4
• Casper Ruud (5) beat Miomir Kecmanovic: 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
• Felix Auger-Aliassime (18) beat Tristan Schoolkate (Q): 6-4, 6-4
• Lorenzo Musetti (15) beat Quentin Halys: 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5

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