World No. 30 Joao Fonseca‘s first-round clash at the French Open against France’s Luka Pavlovic was anything but uneventful. Though the Brazilian was expected to record a comfortable victory in the opening round, he was given a tough fight by his opponent in the first set (7(8)-6,6-4-6-2). Fonseca didn’t look to be at his best and was getting frustrated as the first set got dragged into a tiebreaker. Then the 19-year-old would completely lose his temper as Pavlovic took a 5-4 lead in the tiebreaker and earned a violation.

After miscuing a forehand that landed way out of the baseline, Fonseca’s frustration got the better of him as he took out the ball from his pocket and smashed it straight into the stands. Following this, the crowd at the Court Simonne-Mathieu erupted into boos and started cheering even harder for Pavlovic. The chair umpire also stepped in and handed Fonseca a code violation for ball abuse.

The Brazilian generally appeared to be very frustrated with his shots this time. However, the youngster ensured that he didn’t lose his composure and went on to make a remarkable comeback in the tiebreaker.

Despite being a set point down at 5-6, Fonseca would go on to win three consecutive points to win the tiebreaker 8-6. This led to him winning the first set 7-6 and taking a vital lead in the match.

The 19-year-old regained his confidence after clinching the first set and played brilliantly in the second. He managed to take a two-set lead over his opponent by winning the second set 6-4. Pavlovic earned break points but couldn’t convert against Fonseca’s serve.

Credits – Instagram / @joaoffonseca

Fonseca didn’t allow Pavlovic to get back into the contest from here on out and won the third set 6-2 to advance into the second round. This was just his third victory at the French Open, as he had made his debut last year and had been eliminated by Jack Draper in the third round.

The youngster had come into the tournament after suffering a first-round exit at the Italian Open and withdrawing from the Hamburg Open due to discomfort in his right wrist. This was his first tour-level victory since his 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Arthur Rinderknech at the Munich Open over a month ago.

Earlier at the Madrid Open, while losing to Rafael Jódar in the decisive set, Fonseca destroyed his racket after slipping to a 2-0 deficit. Following the match, he admitted his on-court attitude “needs to be better” as he earned a code violation.

Additionally, Fonseca very well knew the meaning of this victory and remarked that he had to fight to the end to earn it.

Joao Fonseca holds his nerve to rack up a very important win

“I was happy the way I fought today to the end,” Fonseca said. “I was a set point down, and I played well. The nerves were everywhere, but I could handle it. Very happy with the way I fought.”

Having wrapped up his opening match in two hours and 14 minutes, Fonseca is now scheduled to take on Dino Prizmic in the second round of the French Open.

The Croatian has been in great form coming into the Grand Slam and secured a comprehensive 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Michael Zheng in the first round. He had a brilliant run at the Rome Masters, where he went on to defeat none other than Novak Djokovic after getting past three qualifying matches. Despite eventually being eliminated by Karen Khachanov in the R16, it was still a successful campaign for Prizmic.