Brazilian youngster Joao Fonseca triumphs at tennis’ Argentina Open

BUENOS AIRES – Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca became the 10th-youngest champion in ATP Tour history when he swept past home hope Francisco Cerundolo in the final of the Argentina Open on Feb 16.

The 18-year-old, ranked 99th in the world and playing in his first tour-level final, came through 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) against his 28th-ranked opponent. Fonseca twice unsuccessfully served for the match but regrouped to claim victory in the tiebreak in a frenzied atmosphere in Buenos Aires.

The 2024 ATP NextGen champion is the youngest male player from South America to win a tour title, while his victory saw him rise to 68th when the new rankings were released on Feb 17.

“Unbelievable week, even in Argentina there are some Brazilians cheering for me,” Fonseca said.

“That’s just amazing. Every Brazilian, everyone from their country wants this support from your own country. For me, this moment that I’m living is just unbelievable.”

He added: “Of course I want to be No. 1, of course I want to win Slams, titles, but my dream is just to play tennis, and I’m living it.”

Cerundolo, seeking his fourth career title, was broken in the seventh game of the first set and fought off Fonseca when the teenager served for the trophy at 5-4 and 6-5 in the second. However, the Brazilian impressively held his nerve in the tiebreak and celebrated his triumph by collapsing in joy on the dusty, clay surface.

Fonseca made his maiden final the hard way – in the quarter-finals on Feb 14 he saved two match points to defeat Mariano Navone in a match six minutes shy of three hours. In all, he beat four Argentinian players – Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Federico Coria, Navone and Cerundolo – on the road to the trophy.

He had already announced himself on the scene in January when he came through qualifying at the Australian Open and defeated top-10 player Andrey Rublev in the first round.

Cerundolo had stunned top seed Alexander Zverev of Germany in the quarter-finals before knocking out Spain’s Pedro Martinez in the semis.

Over in France, France’s Ugo Humbert successfully defended his Marseille ATP title on Feb 16, securing a seventh career crown with a straight-set defeat of Hamad Medjedovic in the final.

The second seed came through 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 against the 96th-ranked Serb to extend his record on indoor hard courts in his own country to 18-1. That run also included the title in Metz in 2023 as well as a run to the Paris Masters final in 2024, where the left-hander lost to Zverev.

“I didn’t know him well and he was very, very good. I am very happy to retain my title here. I am very proud too, because I was a little nervous at the start of the tournament. It means a lot to win in France,” said 26-year-old Humbert of his opponent on Feb 16.

Medjedovic, the 2023 ATP NextGen champion, was chasing his first tour-level title.

“I would like to congratulate Ugo, you’re playing incredible, so good luck for the future,” said the 21-year-old. “I would like to thank my team for being with me. Unfortunately we didn’t win but thank you for everything, also to my family back at home.”

Meanwhile, in the United States, Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic saved two match points on the way to a gritty 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory over Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Feb 16 to capture his second career ATP title at Delray Beach, Florida.

Down a break at 5-2 in the third set, Kecmanovic fought off a pair of match points against his own serve in the eighth game.

Davidovich missed a forehand by the barest margin on the first and Kecmanovic had some help from the net cord on a volley winner on the next. It launched a run of five straight games for Kecmanovic to close out the match.

Davidovich, seeking his first career title, gave himself a glimmer of a chance in the final game but could not convert a break point and after Kecmanovic let one match point get away, the Spaniard sailed yet another forehand long on the Serb’s second chance.

Kecmanovic, 25, claimed a second title to go with the Kitzbuhel clay-court crown he won in 2020. Ranked 56th at the start of last week, he has returned to the top 50 in the world for the first time since August.

It was a bitter end to the tournament for 25-year-old Davidovich, the world No. 60 who had stopped American Taylor Fritz’s bid for a third straight Delray Beach title in the quarter-finals on the way to his second career final. AFP, REUTERS