Australian Open: Sonego ends Fonseca fairytale in five-set thriller to make third round

Italian Lorenzo Sonego reached the third round of the Australian Open by winning against Brazilian qualifier Joao Fonseca 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

18-year-old Fonseca stole the headlines on day three with a seismic upset of Andrey Rublev to claim his first top-10 win on his debut Grand Slam appearance in the first round.

This formed the apex of a 14-match winning streak for the Brazilian, having also won a challenger title at the turn of the year and becoming the lowest-ranked player to ever win the Next Gen Finals title in Jeddah last December.

Today, however, he was undone by a heroic effort from the supremely talented – and much more experienced – Sonego, as the pair played out a five-set epic at Melbourne Park.

The teenager undoubtedly has a very bright future, and was given a rousing standing ovation as he exited the court.

Sonego, ranked No 55, will play Hungarian Fabian Marozsan next.

The Italian edged out Swiss wildcard Stan Wawrinka (6-4, 5-7, 7-5, 7-5) in the previous round of the first Grand Slam tournament in 2025.

During the first round of the first Grand Slam tournament in 2025, Fonseca, ranked No 112, beat Russian Andrey Rublev, the No 9 seed (7-6 (1), 6-3, 7-6 (5)).

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other second-round results (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 60.627.573, most recent results first):

• Learner Tien vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Jannik Sinner vs. Tristan Schoolkate: thursday
• Holger Rune (13) beat Matteo Berrettini: 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6)
• Fabian Marozsan beat Frances Tiafoe (17): 6-7 (3), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
• Alex Michelsen beat James McCabe (WC): 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
• Marcos Giron beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry: 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
• Taylor Fritz (4) beat Cristian Garin (Q): 6-2, 6-1, 6-0
• Corentin Moutet beat Mitchell Krueger (Q): 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-4
• Alex De Minaur (8) beat Tristan Boyer (Q): 6-2, 6-4, 6-3
• Ben Shelton (21) beat Pablo Carreno Busta: 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-4
• Lorenzo Musetti (16) beat Denis Shapovalov: 7-6 (3), 7-6 (6), 6-2
• Gael Monfils beat Daniel Altmaier: 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (3)
• Francisco Cerundolo (31) beat Facundo Diaz Acosta: 6-2, 1-0 ret.
• Karen Khachanov (19) beat Gabriel Diallo: 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
• Miomir Kecmanovic beat Hubert Hurkacz (18): 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
• Alexander Zverev (2) beat Pedro Martinez Portero: 6-1, 6-4, 6-1
• Tommy Paul (12) beat Kei Nishikori: 6-7 (3), 6-0, 6-3, 6-1
• Ugo Humbert (14) beat Hady Habib (Q): 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat Felix Auger-Aliassime (29): 6-7 (7), 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3
• Jack Draper (15) beat Thanasi Kokkinakis: 6-7 (3), 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
• Jakub Mensik beat Casper Ruud (6): 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
• Jacob Fearnley beat Arthur Cazaux: 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3
• Aleksandar Vukic beat Sebastian Korda (22): 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
• Arthur Fils (20) beat Quentin Halys: 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5
• Roberto Carballes Baena beat James Duckworth: 6-4, 6-2, 7-5
• Novak Djokovic (7) beat Jaime Faria (Q): 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2
• Nuno Borges beat Jordan Thompson (27): 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
• Benjamin Bonzi beat Francesco Passaro (LL): 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
• Carlos Alcaraz (3) beat Yoshihito Nishioka: 6-0, 6-1, 6-4
• Jiri Lehecka (24) beat Hugo Gaston: 6-3, 3-1 ret.
• Tomas Machac (26) beat Reilly Opelka: 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-4