Brazilian 17-year-old Next Gen player Joao Fonseca came back from one set down to beat Alex Michelsen 4-6 6-0 6-2 at the Madrid Mutua Open. Fonseca won his first Masters 1000 match
Michelsen went up a 4-0 lead with two breaks of serve. Fonseca pulled one break back in the sixth game and held serve for 3-4. Fonseca saved two break points as he was serving to stay in the set in the ninth game. Michelsen served out the first set 6-4 on his third opportunity.
Fonseca broke three times to win the second set 6-0. The Brazilian teenager went up a 3-1 lead with a break in the fourth game. He saved four break-back points in the fifth game before breaking again in the eighth game on his first match point.
Fonseca won 61% of his second serve return points and saved seven of the nine break points he faced.
Fonseca set up a second round match against Cameron Norrie.
“I am very happy with the way that I played. The first set, I was super nervous. He did not have to play. I was missing first. At the beginning of the second set I started feeling better. The crowd helped me to make this transition, to be more solid. The crowd helped a lot. In the second set I just tried to be more solid. I think that he was more tense than me in the second set. I played well”, said Fonseca.
Lorenzo Sonego beat Richard Gasquet 6-2 7-5 to set up an all-Italian second round round clash against Jannik Sinner, who leads 4-0 in his four head-to-head matches against his compatriot.
Sonego went up a 4-0 lead with a double break and held on his service game to win the first set 6-2.
Sonego had to save three break points in the second game before breaking serve in the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead. The Italian player closed it out on his first match point after just 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Flavio Cobolli came back from one set down to beat Alejandro Tabilo 5-7 6-4 6-1. Tabilo went up a 4-1 lead with a break in the fourth game. Cobolli broke back in the ninth game and held serve in the 10th game to draw level to 5-5. Tabilo broke for the second time in the 12th game to win the first set 7-5. Cobolli earned a break in the ninth game in the ninth game to win the second set 6-4. Tabilo went up a break in the second game to take a 3-1 lead. Cobolli broke back in the fifth game to draw level to 3-3. The Italian player earned the decisive break in the ninth game to win the third set 6-4. Cobolli will face another Chilean Nicolas Jarry.
Matteo Arnaldi cruised past Christopher O’Connell 6-4 6-1 to set up a second round match against Danil Medvedev. Arnaldi broke three times and saved the only break point he faced.
Jakub Mesnik beat Yannik Hanfmann 6-4 7-6 (7-3) after closing the two-hour and 1 minute match on his fourth match point. Mesnik is currently second in the ATP Race to Jeddah.
“It was a tough match from the beginning. I knew before the match. I knew before the match that he is a very tough opponent. I played him two years ago at a Challenger in Bratislava and lost, but I know that some time has passed and now I am different”, said Mesnik.
Mesnik set up a second round match against Grigor Dimitrov.
Hamad Mejedovic came back from one match down to beat Aleksandar Kovacevic 4-6 7-5 6-4.
