Tennis-Fonseca fanfare lights up Wimbledon as Brazilian teen reaches third round
LONDON (Reuters) -Joao Fonseca buried his face in his cap before soaking up a roaring ovation after the Brazilian teen sensation battled past Jenson Brooksby 6-4 5-7 6-2 6-4 and matched his best Grand Slam run by making the third round of Wimbledon on Wednesday.
The rapidly rising star of men's tennis attracts supporters by the thousands at tournaments and the samba-tinged atmosphere when he is on court can often resemble soccer matches with many fans dressed in Brazil jerseys chanting his name throughout.
Cheers from Fonseca's match echoed through the All England Club on a sun-drenched afternoon as he beat Brooksby in a little over three hours to become the first Brazilian man to reach the third round since Thomaz Bellucci in 2010.
"It's something to be proud of, for sure," said Fonseca, who is playing in only his fourth tour-level event on grass.
"It's a great achievement. I'm very proud of myself with the way I played today. It's an opportunity to be here and play this amazing tournament. Being in the third round is just amazing.
"I'm very happy the way that I've developed on this surface, I'm evolving. So I'm happy with it."
There has been immense hype around Fonseca after he beat Andrey Rublev in straight sets at the Australian Open for his first victory over a top-10 opponent and won his first ATP Tour title in Buenos Aires in February.
After a run to the French Open third round in May, the 18-year-old Fonseca became the youngest man to make the same stage at Wimbledon since Bernard Tomic in 2011.
His reward is a meeting with Chilean Nicolas Jarry and fans of both players are likely to create a boisterous atmosphere.
"I know Chile fans, they're loud. Yeah, the Brazilians are loud too. It's going to be nice," Fonseca said.
"Nico is a nice person and also a nice player. He has a very good serve. He's playing good on grass. It's just going to be a new experience, very nice.
"I'm just going to enjoy, play my best tennis, and hopefully I can go to the fourth round."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in London; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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