Brazilian João Fonseca, ranked 30th in the world, bid farewell to his quest for the Roland Garros title in France on Tuesday (Jun. 2). After a historic run on the Parisian clay, the 19-year-old was eliminated by another rising star of the new generation – 20-year-old Czech Jakub Mensik, currently 27th in the world ranking. With a powerful serve, strong finishing shots, and perfect returns, Mensik dictated the pace of the match, winning 3–0 with set scores of 6–4, 6–3, and 7–6, after a 2-hour, 44-minute battle on the Philippe-Chatrier court, the main court at Roland Garros.

Despite the setback, Fonseca has put Brazil back in the men’s quarterfinals at Roland Garros after a 22-year drought – Brazil’s last representative had been Gustavo Kuerten in 2004.

In the next ranking update on Monday (8), the Brazilian is expected to rise to 25th or 26th place thanks to the impressive victories he has racked up at Roland Garros. Fonseca’s highest ranking was 24th in October last year.

Doubles tournament

Also on Tuesday (2), Brazilian Luisa Stefani advanced to the doubles semifinals in Paris for the first time in her career. Partnering with Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski, the Brazilian defeated the duo of German Laura Siegemund and Russian Vera Zvonareva 2–0, with set scores of 6–4 and 7–5. The pair returns to the court this Friday (5) against American Taylor Townsend and Czech Katerina Siniakova.

This Wednesday (3), Brazilian Marcelo Demoliner and Indian Sriram Balaji take the court together for a spot in the Roland Garros semifinals. They will face the duo formed by Australian Henry Patten and Finnish Harri Heliövaara. The pair advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Germans Puetz and Krawietz 2–0 (7–5, 6–4) last Monday (1).
 

Beatriz Haddad Maia and Marcelo Demoliner, the first Brazilians to take the court in the Roland Garros doubles tournament in Paris, won their respective matches and advanced to the second round.

On Tuesday (May 26), Haddad and her Russian partner, Liudmila Samsonova, defeated favorites Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine and Desirae Krawczyk of the US. It was an important victory for the Brazilian, who was eliminated from the singles draw on Sunday (24) after losing 2–1 to Britain’s Francesca Jones.

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After a 2-hour, 15-minute match, the duo won 2-1, with set scores of 7-5, 2-6, and 6-2. Their next opponents will be the winners of the match between Indonesians Janice Tjen and Aldila Sutjiadi and the duo of Czech Marie Bouzková and Spaniard Sara Sorribes, who will play on Thursday (28).

Men’s

It was also a good day for Brazil’s Marcelo Demoliner and India’s Sriram Balaji. They defeated Germany’s Constantin Frantzen and the Netherlands’ Robin Haase 2-1 (6-3, 4-6, 6-3).

Their next opponents will be the winners of Wednesday’s (27) match between Germans Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner and the duo of Argentina’s Guido Andreozzi and France’s Manuel Guinard.

Brazil has representatives in five other doubles teams set to make their debuts on Wednesday (27) and Thursday (28).

João Fonseca

After a flawless debut, Brazil’s João Fonseca returns to the court on Wednesday (27) for the second round of the Roland Garros singles draw. The 19-year-old will face 20-year-old Croatian Dino Prizmic, currently ranked 72nd in the world.