Joao Fonseca is gearing up for the “great experience” of facing Carlos Alcaraz as the Brazilian and world No 1 get set to meet for the very first time at the Miami Open.
All eyes were on a potential clash between rising star Fonseca and seven-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz when the Miami Open draw was made on Monday, with the two landing in the same mini-section of the draw.
As a seeded player, 2022 Miami Open champion Alcaraz was handed a bye into the second round, with the winner of the first-round clash between Fonseca and Fabian Marozsan set to be his first opponent.
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It is now confirmed that the Spaniard will face Fonseca on Friday night, with the world No 39 battling past Marozsan 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the second round in Miami.
Alcaraz and the Brazilian met in an exhibition match in Miami last December, though this is their first official ATP Tour contest between the two.
Fonseca has long been recognised as one of the most talented prospects in the men’s game, and recently impressed in an encouraging display against world No 2 Jannik Sinner in Indian Wells.
Having pushed Sinner to two tiebreak sets in his first-ever contest against the Italian, Fonseca now gets to test himself against world No 1 Alcaraz in the second half of the ‘Sunshine Double’.
Speaking to reporters in Miami after his opening win at the Masters 1000 tournament, the 19-year-old discussed the opportunity to face Alcaraz for the first time.
“Facing Alcaraz is a great experience for me,” said Fonseca.
“In the last tournament I played against Jannik, and now playing against Carlos is a great achievement for me.
“For me, as a teenager in the second year on Tour, facing those guys is just important for my development, at any time.
“I want to face them, to see how I am at my level, where I can go, what those guys do that the other players don’t, and how they deal with pressure.”
Alcaraz will enter this contest as the favourite to seal victory, though all eyes will be on just how much of a challenge Fonseca can provide.
The world No 1 was stunned in the second round of the Miami Open by David Goffin twelve months ago, and he has not reached the final of the event since lifting the title back in 2022.
Alcaraz also heads into the event off the back of his first defeat of the season, with the Spaniard looking to return to winning ways after an Indian Wells semi-final loss to Daniil Medvedev last Saturday.
The winner of this encounter will face either Camilo Ugo Carabelli or 32nd seed Sebastian Korda in round three.
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