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Fonseca eases into Monte Carlo last eight meeting with Zverev / Photo: © AFP
Fonseca eases into Monte Carlo last eight meeting with Zverev
Nineteen-year-old Joao Fonseca reached the quarter-finals of a Masters 1000 event for the first time when he strode to a convincing 6-3, 6-2 win over Matteo Berrettini in Monte Carlo on Thursday.
The Brazilian's last-eight opponent will be world No.3 Alexander Zverev who dispatched Zizou Bergs 6-2, 7-5.
Fonseca, who is making his first appearance in Monte Carlo, produced some superb tennis to see off an opponent who had thrashed Daniil Medvedev 6-0, 6-0 in the second round.
The teenager is the youngest man to reach this stage in Monte Carlo since Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet in 2005 and is the first Brazilian to reach a Masters 1000 quarter-finalist since Thomaz Bellucci in Madrid in 2011.
The world number 40, who is up five places in the live rankings, took just 73 minutes in the Monaco sun to book his place in the last eight, stamping his ticket with a winning smash on his first match point.
Zverev, a two-time semifinalist at the tournament, ruled the opening set of his match against Bergs as the Belgian struggled on his own service, holding only once.
Bergs found his serve in the second set but Zverev managed to break at 3-3.
The German lost his rhythm when he was serving for the match at 5-4. Bergs swinging freely broke to love after committing four unforced errors.
Zverev responded immediately by breaking back. He closed out the match in his next service game with an ace on his second match point to win in 1 hour 51 minutes.
P. Gomes--JDB
