Joao Fonseca put in unusual situation and silences Wimbledon crowd with Jacob Fearnley win

It was unusual territory for wonderkid Joao Fonseca on Court 1 at Wimbledon as he comfortably dispatched British star Jacob Fearnley with a 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 victory. Fonseca has grown accustomed to having the lion's share of support as his loyal contingent of rowdy South American supporters turn up in their numbers.

Even when the Brazilian competed in rival nation Argentina, he received a welcoming reception. He is certainly going to be a superstar of the future. But he didn't get everything his own way from the 12,345-capacity crowd at SW19.

There were no Brazilian flags. No iconic yellow Brazil jerseys. And not very many 'come on Joao's chanted. But that didn't bother the world No. 54 on his Wimbledon debut.

Fonseca made a flying start, winning the opening game on serve without dropping a point. But the same couldn't be said about Fearnley, who double-faulted twice to set the tone for the rest of the first set.

The Brazilian earned the first breakpoints of the match while leading 2-1, but Fearnley dug deep to fend off all three on deuce.

With the first set on a knifedge, Fearnley got his first big chance after racing into a 0-40 lead at 4-4. Convert one of the next three points and he serves for the set.

But moments like this are when the best players turn up - and that's exactly Fonseca did. Many youngsters could have let the occasion get to them as the crowd cheered on their British star. This teenager didn't.

He won nine points in a row to hold serve and then break Fearnley to love - knocking the wind completely out of the home favourite's sails.

Fearnley would have replayed his five double faults over in his head during the brief break between sets, and he delivered a sixth when he was next tasked with serving again.

The 23-year-old's confidence was rocked as Fonseca ran into a 3-0 lead.

Fonseca smelled blood and continued applying the pressure, going ahead 0-40 at 4-1. Fearnley saved two breakpoints but then double-faulted for an eighth time in the match to esentially throw away the second set.

Serving first in the third, Fearnley was now the one applying the pressure again. And he raised the volume inside Court 1 with his first set point of the match while leading 6-5, 30-40 but Fonseca held to take it to a tiebreak.

And it was quite poetic that another double fault caused Fearnley to lose in the tiebreak. He was leading 5-2 with two serves to come but he double faulted and then collapsed as Fonseca won five points in a row - the story of the match.

"I'm sorry, winning against a British guy but thanks a lot for the support here," Fonseca said.

"Thanks for respecting the tennis today. Jacob is a great friend and great player. I am looking forward to the next meeting against him."

He added: "At the beginning of the match both of us were very nervous. We were just making serves and there were no rallies. Very nervous."

Fonseca will face either American Jenson Brooksby or No.31 seed Tallon Griekspoor in round two.

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