The opening round of the Miami Masters will witness a blockbuster duel betweentwo rising teenagers. Joao Fonseca will challenge Learnen Tien on Stadium. Both youngsters have enjoyed a stellar ride in the opening three months of 2025.
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The 18-year-old Brazilian wrapped up the 2024 on a high note, lifting the Next Gen ATP Finals trophy. He started the new season with the Canberra Challenger title and qualified for the Australian Open in style.
Not stopping there, Fonseca bested a top-10 star Andrey Rublev in the first round, becoming one of the youngest players with a top-10 Major win since 1990. Joao carried that boost to clay and conquered the ATP 250 Buenos Aires event.
Thus, at 18 years and five months, he becamethe seventh-youngest champion on the ATP Tour since 1990. The Braziliansecured his first Indian Wells victory before lifting another trophy at a strong Phoenix Challenger for the top-60 debut.
Learnen Tien started the season outside the top-120. The young American needed only a couple of tournaments to leave many rivals behind and crack the top-70 at 19. Learnen qualified for the Australian Open main draw, defeated Daniil Medvedev and reached the fourth round.
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He became the youngest player to achieve that since Rafael Nadal in 2005! Tien presented his skills again in Acapulco, stunning world no. 2 Alexander Zverev and becoming the youngest American with a high-profile triumph since Andy Roddick in the summer of 2001!
The 19-year-old suffered an early Indian Wells loss and did not have the luck in the draw in Miami. Facing Fonseca is never easy, and we should see a thriller between two skillful but completely different players on the main court.
Joao and Learnen met two times at last year's Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah. The Brazilian kicked off their rivalry with a furious 4-0, 4-0, 1-4, 4-2 victory in the round-robin stage. Tien defeated the other two rivals and clinched the semi-final victory to arrange another duel against the 18-year-old.
The American claimed the opener and had a chance to forge a massive two sets to love advantage. Instead, Fonseca recovered his game and earned a 2-4, 4-3, 4-0, 4-2 win, finishing the event with a 5-0 score and lifting the trophy at 18!
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They needed an hour and 27 minutes to wrap up four reducedsets. The 8th seed struggled to mirror the beginning of their previous match. He lost the opener and faced a set point in the tie break of the second set. Fonseca denied it and stole the breaker 10-8 for a massive boost of confidence.
Joao provided a bagel in the third set, his third over Learnen that week!The 18-year-old stepped in at 1-2 in the fourth set, rattling off three straight games to emerge at the top. Who will win their Miami Masters duel? Fonseca should be the favorite, but anything can happen between the two young upcoming stars.
