The year’s toughest tennis tournament* is underway: the last of the clay court season, the French Open at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris.
There is a sensational new youngster on the men’s tennis scene (no, not Carlos Alcaraz)—João Fonseca from Brazil, all of 18 years old.
*It’s a Grand Slam tournament, so the 128-person draw requires the champion to win 7 times. The matches are best of 5 sets (best of 3 in non-Slam tournaments), and the clay makes the ball slower and bounce higher, so the rallies are longer.
Here he is serving, already a break up (fan with the Brazilian flag to his right).
Fonseca won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, against a formidable opponent, and by retrieving shots wide, wi-i-ide out left, or right, and the dropshots up front as well. He plays with the confidence and maturity of someone 10 years older, and whips the ball on his forearm with a lethal, loose, arm and shoulder.
The match was put on Court No 7, a side court. (Why?) So there was standing room only for the rabid fans, plus a line that snaked around the corner for those that still hoped to get in before the end of the match, to share in the excitement. After the match had ended, people started leaving, but others still made their way in, just to take a look.
[Still from TNT cable TV channel broadcast]