Joao Fonseca maintained his flawless run at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF by edging Jakub Mensik across five tie-break sets on a dramatic Friday night in Jeddah.
The Brazilian 18-year-old registered a hard-fought 3-4(4), 4-3(8), 4-3(5), 3-4(4), 4-3(5) victory over the third-seeded Czech in a match of fine margins. Fonseca held his nerve in five tight sets to clinch the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash and advance to the last four with a perfect 3-0 Blue Group record on his tournament debut.
“Before the match, I had already qualified for the semi-finals. I will play tomorrow,” Fonseca said in his on-court interview. “I had already qualified, so, I think in tennis or any sport you need to think of today, not tomorrow.”
Fonseca, currently No. 145 in the PIF ATP Rankings, will play Luca Van Assche on Saturday for a place in the final. Van Assche finished runner-up in the Red Group after defeating Nishesh Basavareddy in a winner-take-all contest earlier on Friday.
“I know Luca. He is a very solid guy. We are going to face each other for the first time. I am going to do my best and hope I can go for the win,” Fonseca said.
Earlier this week, Fonseca dispatched top seed Arthur Fils and Learner Tien. The 18-year-old reached the quarter-finals in Rio de Janeiro in February and the last eight at the ATP 250 in Bucharest. He is the first Brazilian to compete at the 20-and-under event.
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