The Japan Times - Brazilian teen Fonseca downs Ruud to reach French Open quarters

The 19-year-old powered his way to a 7-5, 7-6 (10/8), 5-7, 6-2 win in the night match at Roland Garros to reach his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final, where he will face Czech youngster Jakub Mensik.

Fonseca showed a different side to his game after coming back from two sets down against both Dino Prizmic in round two and Djokovic on Friday.

He held off a battling Ruud, a two-time French Open finalist, in a gruelling contest that lasted three hours and 55 minutes and finished at 12:27 am local time on Monday morning.

"It was tough, Casper plays good here, he's a very experienced guy and he knows how to play here on this court," said Fonseca, who hit 51 winners in another exciting display.

"It was tough in the beginning but I played well in the important moments in the first and second sets."

After Rafael Jodar's victory over Pablo Carreno Busta on Sunday, Fonseca's win means it is only the fifth time in the last 40 years two teenagers have reached the quarter-finals of a men's Grand Slam competition.

He is the fourth Brazilian man to reach the Roland Garros last eight in the Open era, and the first since three-time champion Gustavo Kuerten, who was watching on from the players' box on Court Philippe Chatrier.

"I just try to be me on court, try to be happy, try to hit winners, try to hit good shots, try to be entertaining," added Fonseca, the 28th seed.

- Ruud on back foot -

Ruud was quickly put onto the back foot by Fonseca's ferocious hitting and had to stave off three break points in the fourth game.

The vocal Brazilian fans dotted around Chatrier were on their feet again though in game 12, as Fonseca brought up a second set point with a brilliant backhand up the line before Ruud found the net.

The momentum was firmly with the teenager and he broke in the second game of the second set with a rasping passing shot, but Ruud hit back straight away.

The Norwegian started to put Fonseca under pressure, but the youngster saved five further break points in the set, including three in a marathon 11th game.

Ruud had to dig deep himself to force a tie-break, seeing off two set points on his own serve.

A dramatic breaker saw Ruud see a 5-2 lead slip away, miss three set points and then Fonseca finally take it with a blistering forehand.

Ruud showed all his battling qualities in his attempts to extend the match, saving break points in two separate games and then picking the perfect moment to break and force a fourth set.

Fonseca immediately refound his range, though, moving quickly into a 2-0 advantage.

Ruud's resistance was finally broken when he dropped serve again to slip 4-1 behind, and Fonseca wrapped up victory on his first match point with a deft volley.

S.Fujimoto--JT