Joao Fonseca continued where he left off at the Swiss Indoors as he kicked off his maiden Paris Masters campaign with a come-from-behind win over Denis Shapovalov.
Fresh from winning the biggest title of his career after beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final of the ATP 500 event in Basel, Fonseca bounced back from losing the opening set against Shapovalov to come away with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win over the world No 24.
Playing only 48 hours after his win in Switzerland, the 19-year-old took a medical timeout midway during the deciding set for treatment on his back and left thigh, but he assured everyone after the match that there was no reason to be concerned.
“I’m feeling good. Tennis is like this,” he said. “Week after week, you need to change the mindset, and there’s going to be some little discomfort, mini injuries, where I felt a little bit tight, feeling tight. But feeling good, nothing that a good physio can’t make it good in one day.
“I think tomorrow is going to be great. I’m already feeling better. Tomorrow is another good day, so I’m going to fight till the end.”
Another Rankings Boost
The Brazilian – who will face 10th seed Karen Khachanov in the second round – rose to a career-high No 28 in the ATP Rankings after his Basel title run and he is now closing in on another milestone after his win over Shapovalov.
Fonseca has climbed four places in the Live Rankings to No 24 and is now virtually assured of being seeded at next year’s Australian Open.
The youngster is set to feature at the Hellenic Championships and Next Gen ATP Finals after the Paris Masters, but his team’s decision to carefully plan his 2025 schedule has paid off.
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“This year was my first year as playing the big tournaments. So one of the things that me and my team, we try to focus a lot was which weeks we’re going to play, which weeks not going to play, focus more on physique and mentality,” he explained.
“I missed Asia. I was sick, but also because of my mental and my physique. Yeah, we didn’t go because it was too many things, Davis Cup, Laver Cup, and I was going directly to Asia. Yeah, I felt a little bit more sick so I didn’t go to Shanghai also. Then I started indoors.
‘The week after week is a lot of things, but it’s my first year, so I can’t complain. I’m just enjoying a lot the tour. But what I can see, a lot of players saying it’s too much sometimes. But yeah, this year we just knew it was going to be very much and we just focus on which weeks we’re going to play or not.”
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