Hamad Medjedovic wasn’t impressed by Joao Fonseca’s supporters during their match at the Italian Open.
The 22-year-old Serb is a promising talent in his own right, having won the Next Gen ATP Finals in 2023. He’s also had public backing from Novak Djokovic.
But that doesn’t compare to the buzz around Fonseca, who has already drawn early comparisons to Roger Federer.
Fonseca usually draws strong support from Brazilian fans wherever he plays, and that was evident again in Rome. But after Medjedovic claimed victory, he couldn’t help but comment on the crowd noise during the match.
Hamad Medjedovic says Joao Fonseca’s fans gave him motivation
Medjedovic had lost the opening set but turned things around to go up a double break in the third. Then, Fonseca mounted a comeback, and Medjedovic was clearly frustrated by the crowd’s energy backing his opponent.
At one point, he even told the umpire, “Tell them to shut up and let me serve. I’ll play.”
Despite that moment, Medjedovic regrouped to win 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(1), and later said that the support for Fonseca actually pushed him through.
“Well it was a rollercoaster as you can see,” Medjedovic told Tennis TV. “I was up with a double break, it doesn’t usually happen that I get broken twice when I’m about to close the match. It was not easy to go through them moments, but the crowd helped me a lot, his fans helped me a lot.
“They were… I’ll not comment on it. But they helped me a lot,” he continued. “I think I was very, as some would say locked in after being down 6-5 in the third so I just kept quiet. Just wanted to give my best and that’s it so really happy to be through.”
Hamad Medjedovic closing in on a return to his best ranking
Back in March, Medjedovic had dropped to world number 115, but after a strong run that included his sixth ATP Challenger title and a semi-final appearance in Barcelona, he’s now on the verge of matching his career-best ranking.
The 22-year-old hit his highest ranking of world number 57 in August last year and is now sitting at number 60 in the live rankings.
He’s never made it past the third round of a Masters 1000 tournament before, but this could be his best chance yet.
With Felix Auger-Aliassime, Fonseca and Tomas Martin Etcheverry all out of the draw, along with Valentin Vacherot withdrawing, there are no seeded players left in Medjedovic’s section.
Medjedovic is now the second-highest ranked player remaining in this part of the draw and holds a head-to-head advantage over his next opponent, Mariano Navone.
If he manages to get past Navone again, it would also guarantee him a return to his career-high ranking.
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