Brazilian teenager comes through in three sets
Joao Fonseca battled past Fabian Marozsan on Thursday at the Miami Open presented by Itau, earning a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 first-round win that sets up a marquee second-round meeting with Carlos Alcaraz. The matchup will be the first Lexus ATP Head2Head encounter between Fonseca and the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings.
Fonseca, 19, leaned on a loud Brazilian contingent inside Hard Rock Stadium to regain control after a shaky second set. Marozsan took advantage of a dip in Fonseca’s level to force a decider, but the Hungarian faltered early in the third, coughing up a run of unforced errors that helped hand Fonseca a crucial break. From there, the Brazilian rode the momentum and crowd energy to close out the match in one hour and 50 minutes.
Serve key as Fonseca powers through
Returning to the tournament where he reached the third round on debut in 2025, Fonseca delivered a strong serving performance. He struck 12 aces and won 75% (48/64) of points behind his first serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats. While the match featured some uneven stretches, with Fonseca finishing with 27 unforced errors against 22 winners, he produced enough high-impact moments and timely aggression to secure the win.
“I’m excited for sure,” Fonseca said when asked about facing Alcaraz. He added that he relishes the chance to play the top names, referencing his recent first tour-level meeting with Jannik Sinner at Indian Wells, where he pushed the Italian to two tie-break sets. Fonseca now turns his attention to another major test against Alcaraz, who has started the season 16-1 and has already collected titles at the Australian Open and in Doha.
Other results shape the top half of the draw
Elsewhere in the top half, Belgian Raphael Collignon saved a match point to defeat 2024 finalist Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(6). Collignon survived at 5/6 in the deciding-set tie-break and sealed the win by finishing an 11-ball rally with a forehand pass after Dimitrov could not convert at the net.
Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced with a 6-1, 7-6(4) win over Arthur Fery and will face fifth seed Alex de Minaur next. Tsitsipas holds an 11-1 edge in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Botic van de Zandschulp defeated Denis Shapovalov 7-5, 6-3, while Ethan Quinn knocked out 2021 champion Hubert Hurkacz 6-2, 6-4.