Fonseca was among the top ten for this year’s title in Melbourne and was the favorite to face the current champion, Jannik Sinner, in the third round. With this Tuesday’s result, Spizzirri advances to face the winner of the game between the Italian Luca Nardi (#108) and the Chinese Yibing Wu (#168).
Errors in the final stretch cost the initial set
The game started with both tennis players calmly confirming their service games. In the eighth game, however, Fonseca threw a right into the net and made two double faults, giving Spizzirri two break points. The Brazilian saved himself from the first with a good serve and, in the second, he managed to defend himself brilliantly and ended up counting on a mistake from his opponent at the net. Shortly afterwards, the score was tied at 4/4.
João found himself under pressure again in the tenth game. After losing a couple of game points, the Rio native missed a cross slice and gave up a set point. This time he saved himself with an ace. Spizzirri got a second chance when Fonseca missed an easy volley and didn’t waste it. He defended well and saw the Brazilian miss another right, which gave the final numbers to the partial: 6/4.
Quick reaction
Until that moment, Fonseca had 13 winners and 14 unforced errors (six of them in the last game), while Spizzirri, who attacked less, had four winning balls and five misses. The second set is very different. In the first game, Spizzirri made more mistakes, and the Brazilian achieved his first break points. In the second, he gets the break when his rival misses a volley.
