Brazilian rising star, Joao Fonseca, reaches his first ATP Final: The teenager defeated Laslo Djere to advance to the Argentina Open Final
ATP
Joao Fonseca keeps improving in this 2025 campaign. The n° 99 is now one step away to become one of the youngest champions of the ATP Argentina Open after defeating Laslo Djere in the semifinals 7-6(3), 5-7 y 6-1. His opponent will be the local Francisco Cerúndolo or the Spaniard, Pedro Martínez.
Joao Fonseca's dream continues in Buenos Aires. The new jewel of Brazilian tennis has had a magnificent week in the Argentine capital, emerging victorious from many dramatic battles against Argentine opponents (Etcheverry, Coria and Navone). In the semifinals his opponent would be the Serbian Laslo Djere, a player coming from the qualifying rounds.
The Serb's path to the semis included a surprising victory over the tournament's fourth seed, Alejandro Tabilo, in the round of 16. He would go on to defeat Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild to reach the semis and seek his fourth ATP final.
First set
The first set was quite even for both players. Both the European and the South American were very accurate from the serve, winning more than 80% of the points they played with that shot.
Even so, Fonseca looked more confident and this was evidenced by the fact that he only gave his opponent two break opportunities, both of which were saved. Djere, on the other hand, showed some doubts with his second serve, although he managed to save the 6 break opportunities that Fonseca generated.
The set headed to a tiebreak in which the Brazilian would take an early advantage and take advantage of his good service to close the set 7-6 (7-3 in the tiebreaker).
Second set
As in the first set, neither player was able to bother his opponent's service games, although Fonseca was a little more irregular and lost more points with his serve.
The 29-year-old Serb showed his fighting spirit and remained patient in front of his opponent, hoping that some inexperienced mistake would allow him to get back into the match. But that would not happen, and the young Brazilian kept on the prowl.
In the seventh game Fonseca attacked his opponent from the return and took an important break to serve for the match. Against all odds, the Serbian would recover the break, and after lifting a match point against with his serve, he would break Fonseca's serve for the second consecutive time and close the set by 7-5.
Third set
Djere, a three-time quarterfinalist in Buenos Aires, kept playing very effective tennis, with very few unforced errors, which led Fonseca to risk too much on some occasions.
After a brief interruption in which the Brazilian had to ask for medical assistance due to an abdominal discomfort, Fonseca came back with everything, broke his opponent's serve and took a 4-1 lead. From that moment on, the Next Gen ATP Finals champion would not look back and closed the match with a resounding 6-1 in just over two and a half hours of play.
Fonseca will have to wait to find out who will be his opponent in the decisive match. In the second match of the semifinals, Spain's Pedro Martinez and Argentina's Francisco Cerúndolo will face each other for a place in Sunday's final.
Match Stats: Laslo Djere - Joao FONSECA
| Djere | VS | Fonseca |
|---|---|---|
| Service | ||
| 2 | Aces | 8 |
| 2 | Double Faults | 2 |
| 58% (61/105) | 1st Service Percentage | 72% (63/87) |
| 72% (44/61) | 1st Service Points Won | 76% (48/63) |
| 52% (23/44) | 2nd Service Points Won | 58% (14/24) |
| 80% (8/10) | Break Points Saved | 67% (4/6) |
| 86% (12/14) | Service Games | 87% (13/15) |
| Return | ||
| 24% (15/63) | 1st Return Points Won | 28% (17/61) |
| 42% (10/24) | 2nd Return Points Won | 48% (21/44) |
| - | Break Points Saved | - |
| Other | ||
| 2h 31m | Match Duration | 2h 31m |
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