Joao Fonseca beat Laslo Djere 7-6 (7-3) 5-7 6-1 in the semifinal of he IEB+Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, becoming the youngest ATP Tour finalist on clay since Carlos Alcaraz in 2021.
Finseca was broken as he was serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set. The 18-year-old Brazilian player held his first match point on return in the next game, but he hit a backhand long to miss his chance. Djere reeled off four consecutive games to win the second set 7-5 sending the match to the third set.
In the quarter final Fonseca saved two match point to seal the win after 2 hours and 54 minutes. During the match against Djere Fonseca called the physio at 2-1 in third set and received treatment on his abdomen.
Fonseca needed a deciding set in three of his four matches this week. The Brazilian player will move to world number 74 in the ATP Ranking.
“It was really special. Today was really difficult, against a really good player. He went through qualies, so he’s playing amazing tennis. We already knew how Laslo can play, he won an ATP 500 in 2019. So, I played my best. Today was with my heart. Today was with pain. And we got through. There is one match to go, so let’s go for it”, said Fonseca.
He will face Francisco Cerundolo, who beat Pedro Martinez 6-2 6-4. Cerundolo converted his third break point in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. The Argentine player broke in the seventh game to take a 5-2 lead and served out on his fourth set point in the next game. Cerundolo broke serve at 30 in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. He saved four break points in the eighth game and sealed the win on his first match point in the 10th game.
