Brazilian 18-year-old Joao Fonseca dropped his first set, battled back into contention and then ran away to defeat American 19-year-old Learner Tien 2-4, 4-3 (8), 4-0, 4-2, winning the Next Gen ATP Finals on Sunday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The tournament features the eight best 20-and-under players on tour in a given year. Fonseca is the second-youngest champion since it was founded in 2017.
The tournament’s eighth seed played five matches in Jeddah and won them all, beginning with an upset of top-seeded Arthur Fils of France on the first day of round-robin action.
On Sunday, Fonseca hit eight aces without a double fault and dominated on his first serve, winning 34 of 41 points (83 percent). Tien had the edge in winners (22 to 19) but also committed 10 more unforced errors (29 to 19).
The second set saw Fonseca lose three straight set points after going ahead 6-3 in the tiebreaker. He fell behind 8-7 but saved set point to tie it and won two more from there.
“Honestly, I don’t know how I did it in the second set,” Fonseca said. “I was just trying to keep my game strong on serve. I was not playing my best at the beginning, I was too nervous. But after the second set, I think the third set was another Joao. I was much more aggressive going for the shots and he got a little bit more tight. In the fourth set I just did my best and got the win.”
–Field Level Media
