Teen Joao Fonseca impresses in Indian Wells debut

Joao Fonseca, an 18-year-old Brazilian who won the Next Gen ATP Finals for rising players last fall, rolled in his first-ever BNP Paribas Open match on Thursday.

Fonseca downed Great Britain's Jacob Fearnley 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 in Indian Wells, Calif.

The result sends Fonseca, a wild card in the tournament, to a second-round match against another Brit, 13th-seeded Jack Draper. The tournament's 32 seeded players received first-round byes.

Fonseca prevailed even though Fearnley had a decided edge in winners, 29-17. But Fearnley also committed more unforced errors, 45-34.

Down 3-1 in the third set, Fonseca never lost another game.

"I think it was a great debut," Fonseca said. "It was very difficult to play here. It was windy, and I think it's the biggest court I played on so far, so I'm just very excited about the way that I played today. I'm very happy with the way that I fought. I was a break down in the third, things were not very good for me, and I continued focusing on my game, so I'm very happy."

Among the day's other winners were 38-year-old Frenchmen Gael Monfils, who won a battle of veterans when he downed 34-year-old Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany, 6-4, 6-4. Monfils will next face 24th-seeded Sebastian Korda of the United States.

Another Frenchmen, 24-year-old Hugo Gaston, took down Italian competitor Luciano Darderi 6-3, 6-3. Gaston outpaced Darderi in winners 34-15. He is scheduled to face 21st-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in the round of 64.

--Field Level Media