9th seed Alex Molcan squares off against Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca in the round of 32 of the 2023 Rio Open on Monday.
The Slovak No. 1 began the season by playing in the Maharashtra Open. He lost to Laslo Djere in the first round. In the ASB Classic, Molcan was once again ousted in the first round, this time by Quentin Halys. Molcan won his first match in the year in the Australian Open. In the first round, Molcan defeated 3-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka in five sets. The 25-year-old crashed out of the tournament in the second round as he lost to 6th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime after winning the first two sets.
Molcan entered the Argentina Open as the 7th seed. His campaign ended in the first round as he lost to Dominic Thiem in straight sets 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
The 16-year-old played in the doubles event of the Australian Open Juniors. He teamed up with Alexander Blockx and reached the finals. They lost to the American duo of Learner Tien and Cooper Williams.
Fonseca will hope to learn from the experience of facing a world No. 54 in the tournament. Fonseca will go into the match as the underdog but he is in the initial phase of his career and will only get better with this exposure. The Brazilian fans will surely be egging him on in the battle.
Alex Molcan and Joao Fonseca have never crossed paths as yet and therefore, the head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0.
Prediction: Alex Molcan to win in straight sets.
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