Teenage sensation Fonseca loses in the first round in Rio days after winning his first ATP title

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Teenage tennis sensation João Fonseca frustrated his home fans at the Rio Open in a first-round loss Tuesday, two days after winning his first ATP title.

Fonseca lost 6-1, 7-6 (4) to No. 60-ranked Alexandre Muller of France, making 34 unforced errors and appearing to be exhausted during the match.

The 18-year-old Brazilian won his career first title at the elite level with victory in the Argentina Open final on Sunday.

Muller will meet Argentina's Tomás Martin Etcheverry in the next round.

“It was tough to play against such a great player and perhaps 5,000 (fans), but I’m very happy to get the victory today,” Muller said. “I was feeling calm in half of the match. I didn’t take my chances to take the break in the second set and then he was playing better and better. I played a great tiebreak to finish.”

On the weekend, Fonseca became the first man born in 2006 or later to win a top-level ATP singles title, the 10th youngest champion in ATP Tour history and the youngest South American player to win a title in the ATP Tour era (since 1990).

Last year, the rising star reached the quarterfinals of the tournament in Rio, an ATP 500, and finished off 2024 by winning the Next Gen ATP Finals in December.

He moved up 31 spots to No. 68 in this week's rankings after his win in Buenos Aires.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Brazil's Joao Fonseca returns the ball to France's Alexandre Muller during a match at the Rio Open tennis tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Brazil's Joao Fonseca reacts during a match against France's Alexandre Muller at the Rio Open tennis tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Brazil's Joao Fonseca returns the ball to France's Alexandre Muller during a match at the Rio Open tennis tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

France's Alexandre Muller celebrates after winning a Rio Open tennis match against Brazil's Joao Fonseca in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

France's Alexandre Muller returns the ball to Brazil's Joao Fonseca during a match at the Rio Open tennis tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Brazil's Joao Fonseca serves to France's Alexandre Muller during a match at the Rio Open tennis tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Brazil's Joao Fonseca celebrates after defeating Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo during a men's singles final match at the Argentina Open ATP tennis tournament at Guillermo Vilas Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)

BOSTON (AP) — Before the Boston Celtics took the floor without their biggest star on a night they had to win, Joe Mazzulla implored his players to just pour everything they had into winning one game.

They did, and the defending NBA champions earned another chance to extend their season.

Derrick White had 34 points, including seven 3-pointers, to lead the Celtics to a 127-102 Game 5 win over the New York Knicks on Wednesday night that kept them alive in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

“We did what was necessary to do what we needed to do to get it back to New York,” Mazzulla said. “You don’t get to pick the test that you have, you pick how you respond to them.”

The Celtics connected on 22 3-pointers to post their first home victory of the series and first without Jayson Tatum following his season-ending Achilles tendon injury.

“Losing JT is tough,” White said. “But we’ve got a lot of guys that are highly competitive, and we didn’t want the season to end tonight.”

The Knicks will try again to win the series Friday in New York. If the Celtics win, Game 7 would be in Boston on Monday.

Jaylen Brown added 26 points and 12 assists. Payton Pritchard had 17 points and five 3-pointers. Luke Kornet finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks. He started the second half for Kristaps Porzingis, who played just 12 minutes. Mazzulla said Porzingis was having trouble breathing as he continues to deal with a lingering viral illness.

The Celtics are looking to become just the 14th team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 deficit in 294 attempts.

Josh Hart led the Knicks with 24 points despite briefly leaving the game late in the first quarter to close a bloody gash over his eye after he took an inadvertent elbow.

Jalen Brunson added 22 points before fouling out with 7:19 to play in the game.

Boston closed the third quarter on a 23-9 run and took a 91-76 lead to the fourth. Brunson spent the final 2:45 of the third on the bench after picking up his fifth foul.

“They came out with a sense of urgency that we need,” Brunson said.

The Celtics kept it going in the final period, pushing their lead as high as 28 points.

The game was highly physical throughout and included a brief face-to-face skirmish between Hart and Brown.

That energy carried over offensively. The Celtics came out hot, getting five 3s from White and 12 total in the opening 24 minutes.

“We’ve got to play desperate. I don’t think we did that,” Knicks guard Mikal Bridges said.

But the Knicks held as much as a nine-point lead, connecting on eight 3s of their own and getting 10 second-chance points. Mitchell Robinson also converted on all four of his free throw attempts in the first half, nullifying the series-long intentional foul strategy Boston employed on him.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Boston Celtics center Al Horford (42) dunks against the New York Knicks during the first half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard celebrates after hitting a basket against the New York Knicks during the second half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) drives to the basket against New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, right, during the first half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics guard Derrick White (9) drives to the basket against New York Knicks guard Cameron Payne (1) during the first half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)