Fonseca into Next Gen semi-finals with rout of Tien

It was lights-out tennis from Joao Fonseca from the off as he sealed his place in the semi-finals of the 2024 ATP Next Gen Finals, 4-0, 4-0, 1-4, 4-2 against Learner Tien in one hour and five minutes.

“One of the things that I most improved this year was maturity; in big stadiums, the big matches, I got nervous, but I think I adapted very good today,” said the eighth seed, who thanked the loud Brazilian support who were cheering him on.

In a rematch of the 2023 US Open boys’ final, he hit 17 winners over the course of the match – ten off his forehand, which was firing throughout.

Fonseca closed out the first set 4-0 in 13 minutes, concluding it with his first ace of the match, and it took him only another 13 minutes to finish the second set with the same score.

Tien got himself on the scoreboard in the third set with his first game followed by his first break, and winning a deciding point to take it 4-1.

But the Brazilian was not to be denied, grinding out the final set to progress to the final four.

It follows his win over top seed Arthur Fils – who will face Tien on Friday on what will essentially be a winner-takes-all encounter to decide the second semi-finalist from the Blue Group.

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