MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca began his Grand Slam career in spectacular fashion as the qualifier took down Russian ninth seed Andrey Rublev 7-6(1) 6-3 7-6(5) in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday.
Fonseca’s first main draw match at a Slam had been eagerly-anticipated and the 18-year-old lived up to the hype with a stunning straight sets win in front of a captivated late-night crowd on Margaret Court Arena.
He clinched the opening set with one of the many thundering forehand winners he struck and raised his level even further to cruise through the second set.
Rublev dug deep in the third set and was a break ahead but Fonseca showed incredible poise and maturity at critical moments to set up another tiebreaker.
Showing no nerves, he ended the contest at the first opportunity by pounding a forehand beyond his Russian opponent, his 51st winner of the match.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.