Alcaraz teaches young Fonseca a lesson in first meeting

By Harvey Fialkov / Staff writer

MIAMI GARDENS – Carlos Alcaraz attended the Miami Heat-LA Lakers game Thursday night in Miami the night before arguably the most highly anticipated tennis match of the year:  the first meeting between the world No. 1 Spaniard and the Brazilian teen prodigy Joao Fonseca.

Nerves? Nah.

From his courtside seat Alcaraz witnessed Lakers superstar Luka Doncic pour in 60 points to lead Los Angeles to victory.

Then on Friday night Alcaraz calmly gave the 19-year-old Fonseca a 95-minute 6-4, 6-4 lesson in front of a single-session record 17,391 raucous fans in Hard Rock Stadium – with most cheering for the Brazilian.

The closeness of the score didn’t indicate Alcaraz’s dominance over Fonseca. Sure, they exchanged blistering baseline rallies, both showing off their warp-speed forehands and extraterrestrial finesse shots. But Alcaraz always had the correct answer to the test.

“I guess I took [Doncic’s] magic from last night,’’ Alcaraz cracked.

The loquacious, yellow-clad Brazilian fans tried to motivate Fonseca by chanting his name and tell him to, “Get the break [of serve]” in Portuguese, but no one could break Alcaraz’s pinpoint serve on this night.

Instead, it was the 22-year-old Alcarez who broke Fonseca’s serve early in both sets to take control and never trail.

Fonseca has now played the top two players in the world in the past two weeks, losing two tiebreaks to No. 2 Jannik Sinner last week at Indian Wells. Call it a learning experience.

“I think Alcaraz has more of an arsenal than Sinner,’’ said Fonseca, who had just 12 winners but 20 errors, compared to Alcaraz’s 27 winners and 23 errors. “Sinner’s more like a robot that just kills the ball and does everything perfect. And Carlos, he can do everything. He can do his topspin; he can fire the ball; he has good motivation; he goes to the net.

“So, he has everything, and it’s more difficult to understand his game, and he breaks a lot your rhythm.

“In the beginning, he was feeling a little bit more pressure, same as me, but he got an early break in the beginning of [both sets] and then he played his game with good shots, going to the net and approaching.

“Jannik’s [match] helped me to enter the court with no fear trying to play my game, but I think I didn’t get the opportunities that I had, and of course, he played good. He’s number one in the world, but I need to think about my mistakes and try to improve.”

Alcaraz is now 13-0 against players younger than him, while Fonseca is 1-4 against Top10 players.

Alcaraz marvels at Fonseca’s talent and believes he will be competing for titles for many years to come. He said that the young man reminds him of himself, except that Alcaraz won Miami at18, the US Open at 19 when he became the year-ending No.1.

“There were sometimes that he made a winner from behind the baseline with a fluffy ball, that I just sliced what I call a moon ball, and from behind the baseline, he was able to make a winner to me,’’ said Alcaraz, who next plays American Sebastian Korda, winner of the Delray Beach Open last month. “I was surprised about it, to be honest, because against other players I’m able to return the next ball and get into the point again.

“So, against him is a totally different story. It feels like he can make a winner from everywhere. And that’s impressive.”

Alcaraz believes Fonseca can only improve his game after the experience of playing the game’s top two players over such a short period of time.

“I remember when I played the best players in the world when I was coming up,’’ he said. “It did really help me a lot. I go to my team, those matches get the feedback and see what I should do in practice to improve.

“He reminds me a lot of me when I was his age. He should choose better options. Sometimes he misses a few shots or a lot of times he misses an easy ball because he doesn’t choose the right shots, the right ball in certain situations. So, I’m pretty sure he’s going to get better in the future by playing the Nos. 1 and 2 in big tournaments.”

Both players enjoyed the electric atmosphere on Stadium Court as they elicited loud, “Oohs and ahs,’’ from some of their circus shots. But clearly, the Brazilians outnumbered Alcaraz’s Hispanic fan base on this night.

“It was amazing,’’ Fonseca said. “What a great crowd. It’s always great to play someone who is very good with a great charisma and have the crowd — I think it was more like 60-40 for me.

“It was kind of a great atmosphere. They respect Carlos and it was a fun match because he played some amazing shots. It was entertaining and good for both.”

COCO SURVIVES

Former pro Brad Gilbert wrote a book entitled Winning Ugly, and that’s what No. 4 Coco Gauff did in a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto on Stadium Court.

Gauff, who is dealing with a nerve issue in her right arm, split sets and was down 0-2 in the third before her fighting spirit and remarkable defense helped the Delray Beach 22-year-old thrill her hometown fans by reeling off five straight games on her way to the win.

“I think I’ve really wanted the tournament so bad because it is my home tournament,’’ she said. “I feel like anything can happen at any moment and I do feel like I’m capable of a lot. I’m going to kind of keep expectations low. I’m just going to give it my best, the whole event.”

Amanda Anisimova, a Miami Beach resident, didn’t cash in on a match point in the second set, but the sixth seed advanced with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic.

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, hoping to pull off the Sunshine Double after her Indian Wells win last week, struggled in a 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory over Atlanta’s Ann Li in front of a lively crowd on fan-friendly Butch Buchholz court.

No. 7 Jasmine Paolini dropped the second set to American doubles great Taylor Townsend, but persevered 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 to move into the third round.  Ninth seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine got by 17-year-old Aussie Emerson Jones, 6-4, 6-2. It was her 20^th win to lead the Tour.

Third seed Elena Rybakina won the battle of Kazakhstans in a 6-3, 6-3 win over Yulia Putinsteva in the Stadium nightcap.

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About the Miami Open presented by Itaú

The 2026 Miami Open presented by Itaú will be played March 15 – March 29 at Hard Rock Stadium. The 15-day event is owned and operated by MARI and Hard Rock Stadium. The Miami Open is one of nine ATP Masters 1000 Series events on the ATP calendar, a WTA 1000 event on the WTA calendar, and annually hosts the world’s best players, with recent champions including the top players in each tour’s rankings – Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek. In 2025, the tournament attracted more than 400,000 spectators over its 15 days at Hard Rock Stadium. Widely regarded as the most glamorous stop on the ATP and WTA calendars, the Miami Open is defined by the city’s vibrant culture, nightlife, five-star dining and hospitality, iconic beaches, and celebrity appeal, along with its close proximity to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

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