De Minaur outwits Fonseca in late-night Miami Masters thriller

While Fonseca’s nerves got the better of him at this year’s Rio Open, he well and truly rose to the occasion this time. The 18-year-old ultimately failed to get across the line against a fitter, more tactically-savvy opponent, but once again proved that he has the ability to go toe-to-toe with the best in the world.

“Yeah, it was a hell of a battle,” De Minaur said afterwards. “I knew coming in, I knew what to expect.

“Not only is he and incredibly talented, dangerous, explosive player, but he’s playing with so much confidence at the moment and the crowd behind him. I knew I was going to be up against it and it was going to take every single ounce of me, so I just put my head down and got to work. Very happy with it.”

Fonseca takes his chances in first set, but not second

The opening set was marked by both men being solid on serve, with no break points until the 11th game.

Fonseca foreshadowed his first opportunity by fist pumping and activating the crowd after winning the opening point of De Minaur’s service game at 5-5. The teen locked in, gained a chance, and pounced, breaking for a 6-5 lead before serving out the set much to the delight of his fans.

In the second, however, Fonseca quickly fell behind. A momentary dip in energy saw him broken in his opening service game, trailing 3-0 in a matter of minutes as De Minaur won 12 of 13 points at one stage

He dug deep and fought his way back though, sealing the break with a brilliant Federer-esque sneak in on the second serve return to crush a backhand winner up the line.

With the set back on serve, it was Fonseca who earned more opportunities to break his opponent’s serve. This time, he was far less clinical.

De Minaur saved four of five break points, with Fonseca uncharacteristically taking his foot of the gas on big points, notably botching several second serve returns on break point.

When De Minaur broke instead – in the 12th game – there was a feeling that Fonseca had missed his window and the Aussie was in control now.

De Minaur finishes strong

The Brazilian took an extended toilet break between the second and third sets, having looked a little physically weary towards the end of the second.

When he returned, Fonseca was rejuvenated, blitzing his way through the opening two games to break De Minaur immediately and establish a 2-0 lead.

But fatigue returned quickly to the 18-year-old’s body, and his error count began rising as he struggled to string good points together. His break lead disappeared as De Minaur began to push him further and further back in the court, extending points and exerting his control over the match.

For the first time, the teen that has had such an impressive mentality in recent months looked flustered on court, smashing his racquet and giving anguished looks towards his box.

De Minaur made the most of his opponent’s decline, clinically winning the final six of the final seven games of the match to make the round of 16 in Miami.

Alex de Minaur signs the camera after beating João Fonseca in Miami

“RIO OPEN” 💀💀💀 pic.twitter.com/0AwfEjwRLD — The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) March 25, 2025

“I think ultimately he’s a big time player,” said De Minaur as he explained his tactics after the match. “He’s going to go for many many shots that aren’t high percentage.

“Now he’s playing with a lot of confidence and he’s making them. Early he fought off some great backhands, hit some great backhand lines. That forehand is so dangerous, but I think what I did really well in the second set was just try to exploit that forehand side a little more.

“Try to get him running, make it a little bit more physical. Obviously I know he’s still young, he’s played a lot of matches in a row. I knew that if I could make this match physical then I had higher chances for it to go my way.

“There’s no other way. You can go out there, complain, get rattled. You can do a lot of different things. But that’s not going to help you win the tennis match. That’s what I told myself. It’s going to be a battle, not only against a player, but against the crowd. Just put your head down and do your work and try to compete every single point.”

De Minaur, ranked No 11, will face Italian Matteo Berrettini, the No 29 seed, next.

The Australian won against Chinese Yunchaokete Bu (6-4, 6-4) in the previous round of the Miami Open.

In the previous rounds of the Miami Open, Fonseca, ranked No 60, edged out American Learner Tien (6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4) and defeated Frenchman Ugo Humbert, the No 19 seed (6-4, 6-3).

Miami Masters 1000, other third-round results (Hard Rock Stadium, hard, USD 9.193.540, most recent results first):

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