ATP Tour

Fonseca sets Alcaraz blockbuster in Miami: 'It's going to be a great match'

Joao Fonseca dug deep to earn a big reward on Thursday at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

The #NextGenATP star outlasted Fabian Marozsan 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in a hard-fought first-round encounter at the ATP Masters 1000 event. With his one-hour, 50-minute triumph in front of a host of raucous Brazilian fans, Fonseca set an intriguing second-round matchup with the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings Carlos Alcaraz. It will be the pair's first Lexus ATP Head2Head encounter.

A blockbuster R2 matchup awaits 🍿@carlosalcaraz 🆚 Fonseca@MiamiOpen | #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/CB7UQZhFgj

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 19, 2026

Fonseca’s Miami meeting with Alcaraz comes hot on the heels of the Brazilian’s maiden tour-level clash with Jannik Sinner. Fonseca pushed Sinner to two tie-break sets last week when competing in the fourth round at a Masters 1000 for the first time in Indian Wells. Fans can now look forward to seeing how the 19-year-old fares in his maiden meeting with World No. 1 Alcaraz, who is 16-1 for the season including title runs at the Australian Open and in Doha.

“I'm excited for sure,” said Fonseca, when asked about the prospect of facing Alcaraz. “I don’t know about other players, but I look forward to playing against the top players. I played against Jannik last tournament, and now I’m playing against Carlos. It’s just a super experience, so I’m looking forward to it for sure and it’s going to be a great match. Hopefully I can get the win.”

Fonseca’s path to the second round and the chance to take on Alcaraz was far from straightforward inside Hard Rock Stadium, where Marozsan expertly capitalised on a drop in the Brazilian’s level in the second set. Yet the Hungarian undermined his efforts early in the third, producing three unforced errors in a row to gift his opponent a break in the second game. From there, Fonseca channelled the constant support of the Brazilian contingent in the crowd to complete his win.

Returning to the event where he reached the third round on debut in 2025, Fonseca fired 12 aces and won 75 per cent (48/64) of points behind his first serve against Marozsan, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Although the two-time ATP Tour champion was inconsistent at times and produced 27 unforced errors to 22 winners, he produced several eye-catching moments of magic en route to victory.

“After a tough second set when he played a little bit better and went more for his shots, I played really well in the beginning of the third set,” reflected Fonseca. “That was the main difference. The crowd really helped me to stay positive throughout the whole match, so I’m very happy with this win and hopefully I can continue playing like this during this tournament.”

Also in the top half of the draw, Belgian Raphael Collignon saved a match point to down 2024 finalist Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(3), 4-6 7-6(6). Collignon fended off Dimitrov’s match point at 5/6 in the deciding-set tie-break in dramatic fashion, sealing an 11-ball rally with a forehand pass. Dimitrov struck three volleys in that rally but was unable to put away the ball.

Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Briton Arthur Fery 6-1, 7-6(4) to set a second-round meeting with fifth seed Alex de Minaur. Tsitsipas leads De Minaur 11-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Botic van de Zandschulp defeated Denis Shapovalov 7-5, 6-3 and Ethan Quinn ousted 2021 champion Hubert Hurkacz 6-2, 6-4.