Alex de Minaur halts surging Joao Fonseca, silences Miami crowd in third-round thriller

MIAMI, USA — “JOAO. FONSECA. JOAO. FONSECA.” For over two hours and 30 minutes at the Hard Rock Stadium, that’s all that Alex de Minaur could hear every time he walked to the Stadium Court baseline to face Brazil’s Joao Fonseca—and his passionate legion of yellow-and-green clad supporters.

Their chanting was so loud it could be heard all the way across the grounds on Grandstand, where the winner’s next opponent—Matteo Berrettini and Zizou Bergs—were still on court, as thousands of Brazilian fans tried to will the 18-year-old phenom over the finish line on Monday evening.

De Minaur blocked out all the noise, and silenced the crowd to claim a dramatic victory in the Miami Open presented by Itau third round, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3.

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“A whole lot of head. Ultimately that's what it took today, and knowing what to expect mentally,” De Minaur reflected afterward. “I knew that not only was I going to play an incredible talent in Joao, who is playing with immense confidence right now and with nothing to lose, but also playing against an incredible crowd which was going to be by his side from the first point to the last.

“I knew it was going to be a dangerous combo, so the only option for me was to keep my head down, stay positive, fight til the end and ultimately show what I can do.

“One of my biggest strengths is my mentality, and that’s a big part of what got me the win today.”

The entertaining third-round contest featured a fascinating clash of styles, as Fonseca used his firepower to blast bombs to the other side of the net while De Minaur hit top speeds as he raced around the court to retrieve them. With the first two sets each decided by a late break at 6-5, De Minaur came back to level the score at one set apiece—but he had to scramble after giving up an early break, and crucially, letting the crowd back in too.

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Their volume had only dropped by a few decibels as Fonseca was edged out in the second set, but they were ready with a second wind when the teenager raced out to a 2-0 lead in the third—and Fonseca was right there with them, egging them on and putting on a show.

“I just wanted to entertain,” Fonseca said in his post-match press conference. “I mean, it was probably going to be my last minutes in this year’s Miami, so I was just enjoying.

“People were calling out ‘Joao Fonseca’. I was just, like, fighting, Okay, let's go… I was just enjoying the moment. I was looking at my coach, just laughing, just enjoying. Those moments were cool.

“I mean, it's my job, but it's the job that I love, so you need to enjoy sometimes.”

It took a multilingual effort from chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani to reign in the Brazilian-heavy crowd, frequently scolding them in Portuguese and Spanish for calling out during rallies and in between first and second serves.

It took a massive mental effort from De Minaur to reign in the Brazilian player, too. But, as he locked in to reel off the next five games in a row, Fonseca was soon the one losing his cool. The 18-year-old smashed his racquet in frustration as his serve was broken twice more before the Aussie closed out the victory.

“When you're playing an opponent that hits the cover off the ball, you have to do your best to try to neutralize when you can,” De Minaur said. “The game plan, ultimately, was to try to get him on the move, try to make it as physical as I can.

“He’s such a big ball striker and he makes it so difficult for you, but I did my best. I was aggressive when I needed to be, moved him around and made it very physical.”

After sealing the victory with an epic roar, De Minaur signed the camera lens with a cheeky message to the crowd as he called the tournament the “Rio Open”.

The move echoed the sentiment that some of the Brazilian's previous opponents seem to share: After bowing out to Fonseca in the first round, American Learner Tien shared a post on Instagram reflecting on his experience—and tagged the tournament’s location as “Rio de Janeiro, Brazil”.

“I told myself that no matter what, if I won or lost—obviously, if I won it was going to feel a lot better—but that was going to be an enjoyable atmosphere either way,” De Minaur said.

“You know, I’m not going to get too many chances to play in such an atmosphere like this one. It was a lot of fun.”

De Minaur, the No. 10 seed, will face No. 29 seed Berrettini in the fourth round of the Miami Open on Tuesday, after the Italian outlasted Bergs 6-4, 6-4 to advance.