Indian Wells: Jacob Fearnley loses to Joao Fonseca before Emma Raducanu’s return

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.”