Fonseca surely learned a lot this week, but the loudest lesson came from the Argentine crowd, which can be rowdy and disruptive when one of their own is playing. While Fonseca had his share of fans in Brazilian green-and-gold, he faced four Argentines in his five matches, and heard more than his share of whistles and cries designed to rattle him. At times, it looked like he might succumb. He dropped a set to Federico Coria in his second match. He was down double match point against another Argentine, Mariano Navone, in the quarterfinals. In the final, he served for the title against Argentina’s No. 1, Francisco Cerundolo, twice, and was broken both times.
By Sunday, though, Fonseca had learned not to let anything get under his skin—or at least not to show it. Like a veteran who knows that any emotional outburst, negative or positive, will only egg the crowd on, he moved quickly from one point to the next, and aimed his fist-pumps straight at his team alone.
