Brazil's teen sensation Fonseca a winner despite Australian Open loss

MELBOURNE : Endless queues outside Melbourne Park's 1573 Arena on a sunny Thursday afternoon gave casual fans the impression that a Grand Slam champion was in action, but a quick peek inside revealed the carnival atmosphere and explained the interest.

Dressed in bright yellow Brazilian jerseys and waving their flags, singing fans were raising the decibel levels as the South American country's new teenage sensation Joao Fonseca was looking to extend his Australian Open adventure.

The 18-year-old qualifier became the talk of the town after beating ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the first round on his major debut on Tuesday and dragged experienced Italian Lorenzo Sonego to five sets before losing 6-7(6) 6-3 6-1 3-6 6-3.

"I think after the battle against Rublev, the expectations got bigger. People said a little bit more about Joao," Fonseca told reporters.

"My expectations were bigger too. I was more nervous than the match against Rublev. I already had a win against Sonego. I'm not going to lie, I was a little bit nervous.

"I think the experience was the big difference today."

Dominated for more than two decades by the "Big Three" of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic, men's tennis is entering a fresh era with world number one Jannik Sinner and fellow major champion Carlos Alcaraz leading the way.

NEW GENERATION

Even as that young duo lay the groundwork for an enduring rivalry at the top of the game, a new generation looks set to push them hard going by the immense promise Fonseca and his colleagues have shown at the year's opening Grand Slam.

Czech 19-year-old Jakub Mensik upset sixth seed Casper Ruud on Wednesday to mark the first time two teenagers had beaten top 10 opponents at the same Grand Slam since Djokovic and Andy