Fonseca had lost his only previous tour-level meeting against Navone, in the quarterfinals of his home tournament in Rio last year, and he was in all kinds of trouble in this one, too, not only dropping the first set, but twice going down a break in the second set at 3-2 and 4-3.
He got both of those breaks back and eventually pushed the match to a third set, but there was plenty more adversity to come.
Navone broke in the very first game of the third set and hung tightly to that break, eventually holding leads of 2-0, 3-1, 4-2 and finally 5-3, where he actually brought up double match point with Fonseca serving at 3-5, 15-40—but the Brazilian teenager just wouldn’t give up, not only fighting off those two match points but eventually winning the last four games in a row (and 18 of the last 23 points) to close out an absolute thriller.
“Since the beginning I was believing I could win, even if I wasn’t playing my best,” said Fonseca, who finished the match with 34 winners to 60 unforced errors. “It’s not easy against Mariano but I’m just very, very happy the way I fought today, and to reach my first semifinal.”
The final points total: Fonseca 105, Navone 107.
