Buse upsets Fonseca in Rio de Janeiro
Ignacio Buse spoiled Joao Fonseca’s pursuit of home glory at the Rio Open presented by Claro on Thursday when he upset the Brazilian 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round.
Despite losing the first set in the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, Buse eventually capitalised on Fonseca’s 43 unforced errors to triumph in a two-hour, 26-minute battle. With the victory, he became the first Peruvian to reach an ATP 500 quarter-final since the series was introduced in 2009.
“Today was a really difficult match,” Buse said. “We all know the potential that Joao has. We are really close friends. So that was also hard today.”
One year ago, Buse was No. 230 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Now the 21-year-old is at a career-high No. 91 and on the rise.
“I tried to deal with the pressure the best that I can,” Buse said. “I did it well today. And next time if I do it bad, I will learn and try to do it better.”
In a match delayed by an hour due to rain, Buse kept his composure under pressure. He crucially saved eight of the nine break points he faced, including three in the opening game of the second set and three at 4-3 in the third set, according to Infosys ATP Stats. The Peruvian fired his eighth ace to complete the upset and advance to the biggest quarter-final of his career, in which he will face Matteo Berrettini.
Berrettini also earned a hard-fought three-set win in the second round, defeating Dusan Lajovic 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in two hours and nine minutes. With the win, the Italian reached his first tour-level quarter-final on clay since claiming his last title in Kitzbuhel in 2024.
[NO 1 CLUB]In other action, eighth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry advanced to the last eight with a 7-6(1), 6-4 win over Lithuanian qualifier Vilius Gaubas, who was aiming to reach his first tour-level quarter-final.
Etcheverry was forced to navigate late drama in the second set when he missed a match point on Gaubas’ serve while leading 5-2. The Argentine then stepped up to serve for the match, but rain suspended play before he could seal the win. Upon returning to the court, he was broken, but immediately responded by breaking Gaubas back to triumph.
With his two-hour, seven-minute victory, the Argentine is up to No. 44 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, securing a return to the Top 50 for the first time since April last year. Etcheverry will next meet lucky loser Jaime Faria.
The Portuguese player, who defeated two-time defending champion Sebastian Baez in the first round for the biggest win of career, beat Damir Dzumhur 7-6(1), 6-4 in two hours and three minutes to reach the quarter-finals.
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