Australian Alex de Minaur halted Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca’s impressive run of form in his debut at the Miami Open presented by Itau by notching a dramatic 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 comeback triumph in two hours and 31 minutes, setting a fourth-round clash with Italian Matteo Berrettini.
Following a third-round thriller, De Minaur is tied with Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime for most wins on tour this season (17).
Furthermore, he has achieved back-to-back fourth rounds in Miami Gardens.
The Match as It Happened
The first set went on serve with De Minaur in the driver’s seat in the early stages.
Flawless behind his serve, the 10th seed dropped just one point with his service until the seventh game while displaying world-class tennis.
On the other side of the net, the young talent from Brazil, playing his maiden Masters 1000 third-round, made a fast start, on attack mode from the onset, unleashing powerful forehands to keep the scoreboard tight.
Easily going from defense to attack, Fonseca continued to impress with his skill set, making it look effortless to generate such power.
Moreover, his wise decision-making, mixing his shots, paid dividends, building momentum when taking his chances at the net, winning 71 percent of the opportunities he generated moving forward.
The charismatic 18-year-old lighted up the crowd on the Stadium court when he converted at a crucial break point in the 11th game to place himself in the position to serve for the set at 6-5.
He held his nerve to wrap up the opener 7-5 in 45 minutes without facing a break point throughout.
Putting to good use his experience, the world No. 11 regrouped, rushing to a dominant 3-0 advantage, converting his first break in the process.
The Rio de Janeiro native stayed calm and collected under pressure, navigating out of danger, going from 0-30 down to hold his ground at 1-3.
An electrifying atmosphere took over Hard Rock Stadium as Fonseca backed up his reaction with a break to narrow the gap to 2-3.
Then, the 9-time ATP titlist sent a clear message he was not backing down, forcing the first battle at deuce of the match in a hard-fought sixth game. However, so did his adversary, shutting the door to split the second set three games apiece.
Despite facing break points on his serve and committing a double fault in a lengthy ninth game, the Sydney-born stayed the course, inching to a 5-4 lead.
Fine margins separated the players across an intense, physical first meeting between them, going toe-to-toe. As a result, the score was tied once and again at 5-5.
The 26-year-old Aussie imposed his vertiginous pace to secure his spot in a potential tiebreaker.
Nevertheless, De Minaur had other plans in mind, getting the edge in the extended baseline exchanges to break twice in the 12th game with his backhand-forcing shot and level the contest one set apiece, forcing a decider.
Unrelenting, the reigning Argentina Open champion pushed the reset button to start the decider with a statement break, firing two aces before holding at love to extend his advantage to 2-0.
Showing some signs of fatigue, the young Brazilian got broken in the fourth game, cutting short his advantage.
Trailing 2-3 in the third set, Fonseca was made to work by De Minaur, who stepped up the pressure on his rival backhand to break twice and lead 4-2.
Hitting the ball cleanly off both wings Australia’s No. 1 racquet got the better of the teenager in the longer points to come on top 5-2.
Ultimately, the former world No. 6 prevailed, clinching the set 6-3 and the match to set up a round of 16 clash with 29th seed Berrettini, who beat Belgian Zizou Bergs in straight sets on Grandstand.
De Minaur hit 22 winners against 27 unforced errors compared to Fonseca’s 29 and 43, respectively.