Alex de Minaur secured a record-tying 17th match win of the season in a physical battle against Joao Fonseca on Monday at the Miami Open presented by Itau.
Tied with Felix Auger-Aliassime for the most wins this year, the Australian ended Fonseca’s run at the ATP Masters 1000 event with a thrilling 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 victory. Raucous Brazilian fans created a carnival feel inside Stadium court, prompting De Minaur to sign the camera lens, ‘Rio Open :)’ after the two-hour, 31-minute match.
The 10th seed dropped serve in the opening game of the decider, but fought back by engaging in lengthy baseline rallies and testing Fonseca’s endurance. The 26-year-old kept his cool and won six of the final seven games to hold off Fonseca and secure his place in the fourth round, equalling his best Miami result.
“It was a hell of a battle. I knew coming in what to expect. Not only is he an incredibly talented, dangerous, explosive player, but he’s playing with so much confidence at the moment and the crowd behind him,” said De Minaur. “I knew I was going to be up against it and it was going to take every single ounce of me. Just put my head down and got to work, so very happy with that win.”
De Minaur and Grigor Dimitrov are the only men to reach the fourth round of Indian Wells and Miami in both 2024 and 2025. Back inside the Top 10 of the PIF ATP Live Rankings, displacing Daniil Medvedev, De Minaur will next face 29th seed Matteo Berrettini, who ousted Belgian Zizou Bergs 6-4, 6-4.
De Minaur is seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin and could move as high as second should he win his first ATP Masters 1000 title as he looks to return to the Nitto ATP Finals for the second consecutive year.
Berrettini is into the Round of 16 at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time since 2023 Monte-Carlo and first on hard courts since 2022 Indian Wells. The Italian leads De Minaur 2-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
© 2025 Copyrights Sixsports. All Rights Reserved.
