Brisbane (Australia) – The draw for the ATP 250 in Brisbane defined João Fonseca’s first opponent of the season. The 19-year-old from Rio de Janeiro and number 1 in Brazil will debut against the North American Reilly Opelka, 52nd in the ranking. The tournament starts on Monday and the dates and times of the games will still be defined later by the organization.
The confrontation between Fonseca and Opelka is unprecedented on the circuit. The 2.11m North American is considered one of the main servers on the circuit and was already among the top 20 in the world in 2022. He is 28 years old and, in the last edition of the tournament in Brisbane, he eliminated Novak Djokovic.
Currently 24th in the world, Fonseca will be seeded 6th in Brisbane. If he wins his debut, he could face the German Daniel Altmaier or a tennis player coming from the quali. And in the same quadrant is the Russian Daniil Medvedev, top seed and number 13 in the world, who debuts against the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics. The winner could face North American Frances Tiafoe or Australian Aleksandar Vukic.
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The Brazilian is expected to start the season in 29th place in the rankings, because the 125 points achieved in the Canberra challenger last year will fall next Monday. Therefore, having a good campaign is important to remain in the seeding range for the Australian Open.
Lehecka is on the same side of the bracket, Fokina is seed 2
Still at the top of the bracket, Czech Jiri Lehecka is seeded 3 and will debut against compatriot Tomas Machac. Whoever wins could face Monegasque Valentin Vacherot or North American Sebastian Korda. The quadrant also has left-hander Learner Tien, champion of the Next Gen ATP Finals, who debuts against Argentine Camilo Carabelli.
On the other side of the bracket, Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina debuts against North American Brandon Nakashima. The quadrant still has experienced names: Canadian Denis Shapovalov, Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and Australian Alexei Popyrin.
The American Tommy Paul is the 4th seed and faces the Frenchman Giovanni Perricard, another great server. The winner could face Australian Adam Walton or a qualified tennis player. In the quadrant, the British Cameron Norrie and the French Ugo Humbert are dueling left-handed. The winner could face guest Nick Kyrgios or American Aleksandar Kovacevic.
