Fonseca lives up to 'hype' to prevent all-British match

Fonseca beat ninth seed Andrey Rublev on his Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open, before lifting his first ATP Tour title at the Argentina Open

Jacob Fearnley missed out on a meeting with fellow Briton Jack Draper when he was beaten on his Indian Wells debut by rising star Joao Fonseca.

Knowing a victory would lead to a second-round match against his childhood rival, the 81st-ranked Fearnley led by a break in the deciding set of a thrilling contest.

However, 18-year-old Fonseca recovered to win five games in a row and clinch a 6-2 1-6 6-3 victory.

Draper, seeded 13th, received a first-round bye and will face the Brazilian teenager on Saturday.

Ranked 80th in the world, Fonseca is creating a serious buzz in the sport and being predicted by many to be a future Grand Slam champion.

In December, he won the Next Gen ATP title - an end-of-season event contested by the leading men's players aged under 20 - then announced his arrival on the Grand Slam stage by beating ninth seed Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open.

Last month he lifted his first ATP title at the Argentina Open, becoming the fourth youngest man since 2000 to win a tour singles title after Kei Nishikori, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.

"There is definitely a reason why there is a lot of hype around him," said Fearnley.

"He is playing incredible tennis and hits a heavy ball. He has a lot of confidence and you can see that in the way he plays.

"He was 3-1 down, I was playing better and it didn't seem to faze him – he was still positive and going for his shots."

Fearnley edged out in battle of the fast-climbers

No player has climbed up the ATP rankings more than Fearnley over the past year, with the 23-year-old Scot moving from outside the top 500 into the top 90.

Such has been his progress - and having already played Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon and beaten Nick Kyrgios at this year's Australian Open - it is easy to forget Fearnley only made his ATP Tour debut last June.

The former United States college player is continuing to tick off milestones in his flegling professional career and playing at Indian Wells - known as the 'fifth Grand Slam' by many in the sport - was another.

Competing in a ATP Masters event for the first time, Fearnley did not settle as quickly as Fonseca in a testing Californian desert wind.

But the Briton fought back by showing how he could hurt Fonseca with his own power from the baseline.

Jacob Fearnley was playing his first match at ATP Masters 1000 level

The ferocity of Fearnley's forehand increased, finding more speed and depth to trouble Fonseca, while also stepping further into the court to attack the Brazilian's second serve.

The adjustments were illustrated by three whopping forehand winners - including one at 89mph - which secured a double break on his way to levelling the match.

Fearnley's momentum enabled him to move an early break up in the decider – but Fonseca showed he possesses the mental strength, as well as the technical talent, needed to climb even higher in the rankings.

Fonseca reasserted his authority in the baseline exchanges, applying enough pressure on Fearnley's serve to draw out two double faults and break back for 3-3.

With plenty of vocal Brazilian fans behind him, Fonseca maintained the momentum as he underlined why he is being predicted to reach the very top.