By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday March 20, 2025
Joao Fonseca braved a rollercoaster match and defeated Learner Tien for his first Miami win.
Photo Source: TTV
Joao Fonseca wasn’t sure what to think when he heard the fervent support of the fans at the Miami Open. After all, he was playing an American, and is over 3,000 miles from his homeland.
Tonight we learned the power of Brazil’s passion for the sport, as the Stadium 1 crowd chanted at the top of their lungs in support, living and dying with the 18-year-old phenom as he battled past 19-year-old Learner Tien 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-4 to earn his maiden Miami Open victory.
“Am I in Brazil?” was Fonseca’s message to the crowd, signed on the camera lens after his comeback win.
It was a spirited affair between last December’s Next Gen Finalists. Fonseca, who defeated Tien twice at that event on his way to the title, kept the upper hand over his peer as he pushed past the Southern California native in two hours and 23 minutes.
Fonseca fired 10 aces and saved three of four break points. He pushed Tien, earning 12 break points and converting nine.
“I knew it was going to be a difficult match,” Fonseca, who suffered nausea in the final set and was cramping near the finish line, said. “I knew Learner was going to fight until the end, he’s a great fighter. He knows how to play, he’s very smart. So I needed to go until the end and I just went to it hard and the Brazilian crowd was with me today.”
Fonseca needed pills from the doctor after telling umpire Mohamed Lahyani that he felt dizzy during the changeover at 3-2 in the final set. He took about six minutes before resuming.
His power was still there as he played big off of both wings to get through the final games of the contest.
Fonseca finished with 43 winners against 27 unforced errors – he will face France’s Ugo Humbert in the second round.
60th-ranked Fonseca, who won his maiden title at Buenos Aires in February, also won the Phoenix Challenger title last weekend. His win drew rave reviews from Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic’s current coach.
“What an incredible atmosphere,” Murray posted on X. “Fonseca and Tien are amazing talents! Tennis isn’t broken after all.”
It’s hard to deny the excitement that Fonseca is causing. He has raw talent that cannot be taught, and he’s demonstrating a heart and head to match as he has surged up the rankings in the last 52 weeks. Tien may not be as eye-catching in terms of power, but the Irvine native nearly notched the win and put his cleverness, touch and feel on display as he took control of the match in the first set tiebreak.
The 19-year-old may have been shy on support, but his game was quite impressive as well.