Wow, Joao! Fonseca saves two match points, defeats Navone for maiden ATP semi-final

Joao Fonseca moved into the last four of the Argentina Open by edging out Argentinian Mariano Navone 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club.

The rising Brazilian talent continued his remarkable breakthrough season with another excellent win, this time to reach his first ATP Tour semi-final, by delivering a dramatic victory over experienced clay-courter Navone.

After dropping the opening set, Fonseca went to work to claw his way back into the match.

But his chances were slim as the third set wound down. That didn’t stop Fonseca from believing.

The Brazilian talent savedd pair of match points on his serve at 3-5 in the final set, then navigated his way to victory without dropping another game, converting the win on his third match point on a drizzly day in Buenos Aires.

“Those are the victories that we work for,” Fonseca said. “I was not playing my best. I fought til the end. I’m tired. He was winning but since the beginning I was believing I could win, even if I wasn’t playing my best.

“I fought, I believed, and now I’m in the semifinal.”

With the win, Fonseca becomes the youngest ATP Tour semi-finalist on clay since Carlos Alcaraz won 2021 Umag and youngest Brazilian semi-finalist in Open Era history. He will face Serbia’s Laslo Djere in the semifinals.

Fonseca, ranked No 99, will play Serb qualifier Laslo Djere next. He is up to No 82 in the ATP live rankings as a result of his win, and is now 6-1 against top-50 players since December.

The 18-year-old Brazilian won against Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry, the No 8 seed (6-3, 6-3) and Argentinian lucky loser Federico Coria (2-6, 6-4, 6-2) ahead of his victory.

In the previous rounds of the Buenos Aires Open, Navone, ranked No 47, defeated wildcard Francisco Comesana (6-4, 6-4) and Dane Holger Rune, the second seed (6-1, 7-6 (2)).

Buenos Aires ATP 250, other quarter-finals results (Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, clay, USD 688.985, most recent results first):

• Lorenzo Musetti vs. Pedro Martinez Portero
• Alexander Zverev vs. Francisco Cerundolo
• Laslo Djere beat Thiago Seyboth Wild: 7-6 (3), 6-3