Earlier at Eastbourne, highly rated Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca claimed his first ATP Tour win on grass by beating Zizou Bergs of Belgium in three sets.
Fonseca, 18, recovered from a bruising tie-break defeat in the opening set to claim nine consecutive games on his way to beating Bergs 6-7 6-0 6-3 in two hours and seven minutes.
The hype is continuing around the youngster labelled Brazil’s newest sporting superstar. Fonseca, ranked a career-high 57th in the world, attracted global attention by beating Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open in January and has admirers including Novak Djokovic.
He will have another chance to test himself against the world’s best in the second round at Eastbourne, where he will face reigning champion and top seed Taylor Fritz.
“I’m very happy to win my first match on grass,” Fonseca said after his victory. “Eastbourne is such a nice place.
“In the second set, he was in trouble and I was more confident. In the third we were both nervous, so I just needed to focus on my serve.
“Playing Fritz is good experience, and the crowd is good – I see some Brazilian shirts, which is really nice.”
The first set lasted 66 minutes and was dominated by the serve without a single break point until the tie-break, which Bergs won 10-8.
However the Belgian’s level significantly dropped in the second set as Fonseca raced to 6-0 in 24 minutes, scoring 25 points to Bergs’ eight.
Bergs briefly halted Fonseca’s momentum in the deciding set, but a perfectly measured half-volley forehand dink across court moved the teenager 4-2 ahead before he served out the match.
