Brazilian Fonseca holds nerve to set up US Open boy's final with Tien
The sounds of DJ Khaled and Drake, mixed in with some Brazilian music, kept Joao Fonseca sane during the five-hour weather delay on Friday at the US Open Junior Championships.
He had been locked in battle with a very well-matched foe in Italy’s Fernando Cina, and when the second weather break happened at 2-1 in the final set, Fonseca knew he had to stay 100 per cent inside his own head.
The breathing exercises and eating and drinking kept going on, but the whole time the Brazilian 17-year-old stayed locked in.
And because of that focus, he’s in a Junior Grand Slam final for the first time. With a horde of fans from his country rooting him on, Fonseca used a late third-set break to outlast 14th-seeded Cina, 6-4 3-6 6-4
“No words,” an emotionally-overwhelmed Fonseca said moments after the win. “I think the word I keep thinking of is gratitude. For family, coaches, everybody that’s been for me from the beginning.
“Only tennis (players) know how difficult it is. It was difficult today, the sun, the rain, the lightning … I’m just very grateful and very happy.”
In the boys' final the No. 7 seed Fonseca will play 11th seeded American Learner Tien, who survived a match with wild emotional swings to defeat No. 14 Arthur Gea of France, 7-6 6-7 6-1.
Cina and Fonseca had met twice this season already, with the Brazilian winning both matches on clay.
Fonseca and Cina were extremely even for most of the match, but it looked like Fonseca would break through at 4-3 in the third, when he had triple break point.
But using his big serve, Cina saved all three, and then a fourth, to hold to four-all.
“He played unbelievable those three points, and when we got to four-all I said to myself, ‘I need to serve well here,” Fonseca said. “I held and screamed so loud, ‘one more game!’”
In the final game, Fonseca won a long rally when a Cina forehand sailed long, and the Brazilian fans erupted in cheers.
Fonseca, drenched in sweat in his sponsored ON gear (they also sponsor Ben Shelton and Iga Swiatek), celebrated with his family and smiled broadly.
How close was this match? Both players hit 29 winners, and Fonseca had just two more errors, 37-35.
Tien and Fonseca have met once, with Tien winning a three-set quarter-final at Roland Garros this past June.
The first boys' semi-final was interrupted by the heat rule midway through the second set. In the first set Cina used an early broke to go up 2-0, but Fonseca, seeking to make his first Slam final as well, rallied to break back at 2-3 and went on to break again in the eighth game to go up 5-3.
The Brazilian, backed by lots of fans on Court 7, served out the set as a Cina forehand sailed long.
But the Italian, coached by his dad, Francesco, rallied to start the second set. He held and then broke serve and was leading 3-1 in the second when the first delay of the day occurred, due to heat rules.
After an hour delay, Cina, who hadn’t advanced past the second round in any of the first three Junior Grand Slams in 2023, stayed strong and continued his solid groundstroke play and claimed the second set, 6-3.
After an hour heat break, the players traded holds to 2-1 in the third when again play was stopped, due to lightning in the area.
Tien, a Junior Grand Slam doubles champions alongside fellow American Opper Williams at January's Australian Open, has reached two semi-finals and a final in singles at Slams this year, but he’d never before faced Gea. The two were slated to meet in the Australian Open semis but Gea lost to Tomasz Berkieta.
On Friday night, Tien looked to be in total command several times, but Gea kept coming back. The 18-year-old American was up 3-0 and two breaks in the first set, but Gea battled back to force a tiebreaker. At 6-5 in the breaker, the players contested a 30-plus shot rally that ended with a ripped backhand crosscourt winner from Tien.
Then in the second set, the Californian was again up two breaks, leading 4-0, and later 5-3, but was broken at love while trying to serve out the match. Gea, showing great mental strength, again forced a tiebreaker and this time the Frenchman came out on top, winning 7-5.
“He started playing a little bit freer; when you’re down like that it’s easier to play free,” Tien said. “And obviously, some mistakes on my end, some focus losses, and then when I let him back in he was playing better.”
But in the third set Tien again re-established control, once again racing out to a 4-1 lead. After a medical timeout for Gea, Tien continued to apply groundstroke pressure and finished off the victory.
“I just tried to manage myself the best I could,” Tien said. “I was starting to play a bit more aggressive in the third.”
Tien, the American Boys Nationals champ for the second year in a row in 2023, lost in straight sets in the first round of the men’s main draw to Frances Tiafoe, but said the experience of being onsite for a few weeks, and hitting with pros, has been hugely helpful.
He also added his restaurant routine this week has been helping: Tien and his family have been to Joe’s Home of Soup Dumplings on East 48th Street in Manhattan “at least nine times.”
“The chicken, the soup dumplings, it’s all been great,” Tien said. “The routine is very important to keeping my body well-managed.”