19-year-old tennis sensation Joao Fonseca set up a highly anticipated second-round clash with Carlos Alcaraz at the Miami Open, the first time the pair will meet.
Fonseca took just shy of two hours to overcome Fabian Marozsan 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in front of a highly partisan Brazilian crowd at Miami Gardens.
The teenager played Alcaraz’s only real rival, Jannik Sinner, in Indian Wells last month, and now faces the other pre-eminent player on the men’s tour.
Fonseca pushed Sinner in two tight tie-breaks in their fourth-round encounter, the first time the two played each other, with Sinner inching ahead in the key moments and ultimately going on to win the title, his first of 2026.
“Excited for sure,” Fonseca said when asked about his next match. “I don’t know about other players, but I look forward to playing against the top players. I played against Jannik last tournament, and now I’m playing against Carlos.
“It’s just a super experience, so I’m looking forward to it for sure and it’s going to be a great match. Hopefully I can get the win.”
Miami was where an 18-year-old Alcaraz won his first Masters 1000 tournament in 2022, becoming the youngest champion in the tournament’s history.
Now an eight-time Masters champion the Spaniard is the top seed in Miami, where he suffered a shock opening-round exit to David Goffin last year.
Elsewhere another highly regarded young talent, French 17-year-old Moise Kouame, earned his first-ever ATP Tour win.
The teenager, who has impressed on the lower-level ATP Challenger and ITF tours, beat home hopeful Zachary Svajda 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. The result meant he became the youngest-ever matchwinner in Miami, and the youngest winner of an ATP Masters 1000 match since Rafael Nadal in 2003.
He earned a congratulatory message from his idol Novak Djokovic and told Tennis Channel: “I have a small secret… After the win, Novak texted me. I’m so nervous, I don’t know what to answer. He texted me something like, ‘Big match today. Congrats. Hopefully you will go far.’
“Maybe [I should reply]: ‘Thank you, Novak. Thank you, my idol.’ No… I don’t know! Imagine having your idol DM [direct message] you like this… It’s the coolest thing ever.”
Djokovic won his first Masters 1000 match in Paris in 2005, three years before Kouame was even born.
The Frenchman faces a sterner test in the next round as he faces a player ranked 363 places above him: 21st seed Jiri Lehecka.
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