Fonseca makes mistakes, but reacts and advances with Fokina’s withdrawal in Cincinnati

Fonseca and Fokina exchanged breaks of serve in the second and third games, and after that, the match became even, with the servers gaining a significant advantage. However, in the ninth game, the Brazilian felt the pressure, facing a 15/30 situation after committing a double fault. Fokina took advantage, attacked with two good forehands, and earned a couple of break points. João saved the first one by attacking with his forehand and forcing an error from his opponent, but he made a mistake with a forehand on the next point, allowing the Spaniard to break serve. Subsequently, roles reversed. Fokina double faulted, leaving the score at 15/30, and Fonseca hit a winning forehand to earn two break points. The Spaniard saved the first one with an ace, and the Brazilian missed a forehand on the second one. Fokina gave a third chance by missing a volley, and Fonseca broke serve on the next point, leveling the score at 5-5. The decision came down to a tie-break, with the European player taking the lead, opening up a 3-0 advantage. Fokina maintained a one-mini-break lead by reaching 5-2. João held his serve twice and closed the gap to 5-4, but he failed to win a point on Fokina’s serve, who closed the set at 7-6(4). João finished the set with 23 unforced errors (14 on the forehand side), but it was a left-handed error that cost him the serve in the second game of the second set. He faced even more trouble when he missed an easy forehand on another break point. Fokina went up 4-0, and the match seemed to be heading towards a quick end, but the Brazilian fought back, returning the two breaks and bringing the score to 4-3 when the Spaniard erred with a simple forehand. Shortly after, the set was tied at 4-4, and Fokina was experiencing physical issues. The Spaniard served in the ninth game and, unable to move well, got broken once again. He then walked to the net and retired from the match.