Fonseca fires past Etcheverry in Buenos Aires, Schwartzman marches on in final event

Joao Fonseca secured a memorable debut Wednesday at the IEB+ Argentina Open in Buenos Aires.

The 18-year-old Brazilian delivered an assured display to sink home favourite Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-3 in just 84 minutes and advance to the second round at the ATP 250. Fonseca kept his cool amid a raucous atmosphere — mixed with local Argentines and travelling Brazilians — to earn his first tour-level win on clay since defeating Alex Michelsen at the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid last year.

“Everywhere I play there are some Brazilians cheering for me, even in Argentina,” said Fonseca. “That’s super nice, you can see some people wearing Fonseca t-shirts [in the crowd]. It’s super nice to have the Brazilian crowd. Thanks also to the Argentinians for respecting the match, I know it’s difficult playing against an Argentinian. I’m very thankful to win my first match here and hopefully I can go [further] this week.”

Fonseca’s blistering forehand was key in Wednesday’s first-round victory, with which he outmanoeuvred his higher-ranked, more experienced opponent from the baseline. The 18-year-old struck 34 winners, including 21 from the forehand wing to seal a commanding victory. Fonseca will face another Argentine in lucky loser Federico Coria in the second round.

With his victory over Etcheverry, the World No. 44, Fonseca became the third-youngest match winner in Buenos Aires after Richard Gasquet and Jose Acasuso.

The reigning Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF champion, Fonseca arrives in Buenos Aires 12 months on from the beginning of his meteoric rise. The Brazilian burst onto the scene at his home ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro, where he reached the quarter-finals in 2024. This year, Fonseca will aim to back up the form that drove him inside the Top 100 for the first time in his career last month.

“I know it’s going to be tough,” Fonseca said when asked of his upcoming 2025 season. “It’s my second year as a professional, so I need to defend my points from last year. There’s going to be a lot of pressure, but I need to focus during my routine, thinking day by day.”

Diego Schwartzman may be competing in his final tournament, but the Argentine is not going down without a fight. Spurred on by a raucous crowd in Buenos Aires, which included many emotional family members, Schwartzman notched a 7-6(10), 4-6, 6-3 victory against seventh seed Nicolas Jarry to reach the second round.

The former No. 8 in the PIF ATP Rankings won the title in Buenos Aires in 2021 and owns the most match wins (17) of those in this year’s draw. In his first-round clash with Jarry, Schwartzman orchestrated cheers and soaked in the atmosphere provided by the packed house in the Argentine capital. The two-hour, 52-minute win was his first ATP Tour victory since Tokyo 2023 in September.

“I expected to lose, if I’m honest," said Schwartzman. "After many months without playing, I played last week in Rosario [Challenger], and I played great tennis against the [eventual] champion Camilo Ugo Carabelli. I didn’t expect to win [against Jarry]. I played a great match, I made good points, he was playing a little nervous, and I took the chances in the third. I was expecting to cry a little after the match and be ready for emotion, but not for the win.”

Schwartzman expertly soaked up Jarry’s heavy weight of shot and capitalised on an up-and-down performance from the Chilean. Jarry, who stands a foot taller than Schwartzman at 6'7" tallied 79 unforced errors in the contest. As he continues his farewell tournament, the Argentine will face Pedro Martinez.