Fonseca electrifies Rio, then exits in a blur against Kyrgios as Guto Miguel becomes Brazil’s new hope at UTS Rio presented by XP

Joao Fonseca’s first appearance on the UTS Tour delivered the loudest atmosphere any tennis fan can conceive and the shortest turnaround from euphoria to elimination, on Day 2 of UTS Rio presented by XP.

The Brazilian first beat Tallon Griekspoor 3-1 in quarters (9-19, 14-13, 17-10, 18-9) in front of a home crowd that greeted him like a superstar from the first walkout, recovering from a heavy opening-quarter loss to close out the win on serve efficiency above 58 percent in the third and fourth.

Hours later, in the day’s fourth and final Melee match, the No. 2 seed was swept 0-3 by Nick Kyrgios (16-11, 17-10, 19-11). Kyrgios won all three quarter points, converted all three of his bonus cards, and out-scored Fonseca 52 points to 32 overall in a match that lasted just 37 minutes, the shortest of the day, into a silent Maracanazinho.

Fonseca: “Nick played better”

Fonseca was clear-eyed about what decided the tie. “Nick played better for sure, better in the important points, and he has a good serve, I think he fits well in this format,” he said. The 19-year-old star didn’t look for excuses: “I’m not gonna take his merit away, Nick played better than me. And for sure we entertained the crowd.”

“The support the crowd gives me is spectacular,” Fonseca added. “Wherever I go there are Brazilians cheering for me – that affection is really special, and it motivates me to keep going,” he said, admitting the noise the crowd aimed at Kyrgios’s service games left him “a bit embarrassed, to be honest” the first time they chanted his own name instead.

Kyrgios credited a level he couldn’t find a day earlier, when he lost to Guto Miguel in Sudden Death. “I played really well today. I know what I was playing for – that’s the beauty of this sport, one day you lose, the next day you have another chance to go out there and showcase what you can do,” he said. “Today I served incredible.”

Kyrgios: “The crowd was my friend”

On the hostile crowd, he said he’d embraced it rather than fought it: “The crowd was my friend, actually. I always love playing in enemy territory – this is what I dreamed of as a kid, watching players go out there on their own with no one to hide behind.”

Guto Miguel, who defeated Brandon Nakashima 3-2 (13-12, 19-8, 12-18, 11-14, 2-0 SD), and Francisco Cerundolo, who beat Cameron Norrie 3-0 (16-12, 15-12, 17-8), booked their tickets to the Final Four – with Nakashima also qualifying on the strength of his quarter average.

The final Melee results confirm Saturday’s Final Four. 17-year-old Guto Miguel tops the group at 2-0 with a plus-two quarter differential, edging Kyrgios (1-1, also plus-two) on match wins for top spot, while Cerundolo (1-1, plus-one) claims third over Nakashima (1-1, also plus-o ne) on point differential to lock in the fourth and final qualifying spot.

Missing out are Norrie (1-1, minus-one), Griekspoor (1-1, minus-one) and Fonseca (1-1, minus-one), separated among themselves by point differential, with Moutet (0-2, minus-three) finishing last of the eight.

Guto Miguel’s fairy tale

With Fonseca out, the weight of a home crowd that filled the Maracanazinho for two straight nights now shifts to Guto Miguel, the 17-year-old who already provided the tournament’s biggest upset by beating Kyrgios in Sudden Death on Thursday, then backed it up with a second win over Nakashima on Friday, also in Sudden Death. Guto Miguel has framed his own week as part of something larger than one result.

Miguel summed up the night in the line that will follow him through the weekend. “Tennis without emotion is not tennis, I think,” he said of another match that went to a decider. “I just like to play tough matches. Next time I’ll try to finish a little bit faster, but I’m just really happy to get the win. I’m trying to play light, happy, I think it’s been working well. Being younger, is a slight disadvantage, but I think I just fought there until the end, I played good tennis and I can hit with these guys.”

The Maracanazinho crowd, he added, has carried him through it. “It’s really a very hectic environment. All these guys will take me to the next level of tennis,” he said. “I’m just enjoying it to the max, happy to be in the semifinals.”

RANKINGS

1. Guto Miguel: 2-0, +2 quarters, +12 points (qualified)
2. Kyrgios: 1-1, +2 quarters, +13 points (qualified)
3. Cerundolo: 1-1, +1 quarter, +20 points (qualified)
4. Nakashima: 1-1, +1 quarter, -9 points (qualified)
5. Norrie: 1-1, -1 quarter, -2 points (eliminated)
6. Griekspoor: 1-1, -1 quarter, -4 points (eliminated)
7. Fonseca: 1-1, -1 quarter, -13 points (eliminated)
8. Moutet: 0-2, -3 quarters, -17 points (eliminated)
   

RESULTS DAY 1:

• Griekspoor d. Moutet 3-2 (14-11, 13-14, 16-11, 10-15, 3-2 SD)
• Nakashima d. Cerundolo 3-1 (13-11, 10-18, 16-15, 12-11)
• Guto Miguel d. Kyrgios 3-2 (21-12, 15-10, 13-16, 15-21, 2-0 SD)
• Norrie d. Moutet 3-1 (14-12, 21-9, 12-14, 16-14)
  

RESULTS DAY 2:

• Guto Miguel d. Nakashima 3-2 (13-12, 19-8, 12-18, 11-14, 2-0 SD)
• Fonseca d. Griekspoor 3-1 (9-19, 14-13, 17-10, 18-9)
• Cerundolo d. Norrie 3-0 (16-12, 15-12, 17-8)
• Kyrgios d. Fonseca 3-0 (16-11, 17-10, 19-11)