Joao Fonseca is through to the second round of the Cincinnati Open after defeating Yunchaokete Bu in his opening match.
The Brazilian star came back from a set down against Yunchaokete to finally secure his first victory of the North American hard-court swing.
Following Fonseca’s exit from Wimbledon, the 18-year-old entered the Canadian Open in Toronto, but suffered a first-round defeat.
With his shaky start to the US Open tune-up events behind him, he’s now looking to make a deep run in Cincinnati.
Joao Fonseca reacts to his first-round victory in Cincinnati
In his on-court interview after the match, Fonseca said of the triumph: “I mean, my first round is always a little bit more nervous.
“Today, in the first set, I couldn’t put so many balls in and I was struggling a little bit, but after I found myself in the game, I won my service games and I broke him at the beginning of the second set.
“I started feeling a little bit better, and in the third set, I was staying in the game.
“Then I found an opportunity at 5-all and I took it, so I’m very happy with the way that I believed from the beginning of the match to the end.”
Fonseca against Yunchaokete:
- Unforced errors: 44
- Service points won: 59/86 (69%)
- Return points won: 39/93 (42%)
- Total points won: 98/179 (55%)
On his comeback, he explained: “I mean, I was struggling a lot. I was missing a lot of shots, and I was not feeling my best today.
“But I was kind of staying in the game, believing that I could find an opportunity, and I had it.
“He had 40–30 and he missed a good forehand, so I had the opportunity on deuce. He missed an easy ball, and then I played really good on the return.
“So yeah, happy with the way that I stayed, and we keep going.”
Joao Fonseca’s results at ATP Masters 1000 events in 2025
Fonseca is yet to make it past the third round at an ATP Masters 1000 event in the five that he has appeared at in 2025.
In the ‘sunshine double’, he won just one match at Indian Wells, and had his best career finish at a Masters tournament at the Miami Open, where he reached the third round.
| Masters 1000 | Result |
|---|---|
| Indian Wells | Second Round |
| Miami | Third Round |
| Madrid | Second Round |
| Rome | First Round |
| Toronto | First Round |
At the Madrid Open, Fonseca went out in the second round after losing to Tommy Paul, despite taking the American to two tiebreaks.
He crashed out in the first round of both the Italian Open and the Canadian Open.
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