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Alex de Minaur has issued a clarification following his two-word reaction after beating Joao Fonseca at the ongoing Miami Open. The Australian, who is seeded 10th at the ATP Masters 1000 event, pulled through with a superb 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 comeback victory.
It was a special win for de Minaur as it marked his 17th win of the season and also saw him advance to the fourth round of the Miami Open, which equals his best result at the tournament. De Minaur would be proud of this win as he had to battle his way back into the contest after conceding the first set.
He saved four breakpoints in the second set to clinch it 7-5 and then switched gears in the final set to wrap up the grueling contest, in which Fonseca enjoyed plenty of crowd support from the Brazilian fans. However, there was some controversy after the match as Alex de Minaur wrote “Rio Open” with a smiley on the courtside camera following his win.
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It immediately drew negative reactions from Fonseca’s fans, who felt the Australian’s cheeky message was unnecessary.
One X user wrote:
“26 years in life, never achieved anything significant, and now wants to provoke an 18-year-old kid and his fans… Alex with a lowercase”
Another fan had a one-word reaction to de Minaur’s message:
“Classless”
However, Alex de Minaur swiftly issued a clarification and said he was merely praising the incredible crowd support that Fonseca had in Miami.
“Only spreading love out here!!! ❤️ Possibly the loudest atmospheres I’ve ever played in and enjoyed the battle. Just out here giving props to the amazing support Joao has here in Miami. Goodnight everyone ❤️🤝🙌,” he wrote on X.
This is the second incident involving the Brazilian fans as they briefly halted play during the third-round match between Jack Draper and Jakub Mensik.
Alex De Minaur will next face Matteo Berrettini in the Miami Open 4R
Alex de Minaur, who is looking for his first ATP Masters 1000 title, will face 29th seed Matteo Berrettini in the fourth round of the Miami Open. The Italian comes into the contest after a 6-4, 6-4 win against Zizou Bergs.
Berrettini has reached the fourth round of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time since 2023 and will be hoping to go further when he takes on a familiar opponent. He leads the head-to-head stats 2-1 against De Minaur, who lost their last contest at the 2023 Wimbledon.
The winner of this match will face either third seed Taylor Fritz or Adam Walton in the quarterfinals.
