BRASÍLIA, DF (FOLHAPRESS) - João Fonseca, number 27 in the ATP rankings, lost to Russian Roman Safiullin (number 132 in the rankings) in the third round of the Wimbledon tournament, by 3 sets to 0 (partial scores of 3-6, 3-6 and 3-6), this Friday (3).
In the previous rounds, Fonseca beat Dutchman Jesper de Jong (ranked number 73) in three sets, with scores of 6-1, 7-5 and 6-4. In his debut, he also beat Spaniard Roberto Bautista (183 in the world) in three sets by 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-3.
With this Friday's defeat, the 19-year-old Brazilian equals his Wimbledon campaign to that of 2025, when he reached the third round and lost to Chilean Nicholas Jarry by 3 sets to 1.
Now, in his second participation in the tournament, he was trying to extend his positive streak in Grand Slams after being the first Brazilian after Guga to reach the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, at the beginning of June.
On French clay, he reached the quarterfinals and, along the way, eliminated Serbian Novak Djokovic, the biggest winner of Grand Slams in the history of men's tennis, with 24 wins, and Norwegian Casper Ruud, who was once second in the rankings. It fell to Czech Jakub Mensik. He gained 400 points in the ATP rankings for the campaign.
Grass, the type of court at Wimbledon, is considered the least favorable surface for João's style of play.
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