'Wild' night in Rio: Net crash, boos and two marathon wins

Fans certainly got their money’s worth—and then some—during the first evening session at the ATP 500 tournament in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.

Wild card Thiago Seyboth Wild fittingly prevailed after three hours and 50 minutes to defeat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 7-5. The match in itself was a roller coaster, as Wild saw leads of 5-3 in the first two sets and 3-0 in the third evaporate.

Fokina had three match points come and go with the Brazilian serving at 5-6, 0-40, in the second set. The first was lost when Wild’s forehand clipped the net and trickled over, and was followed up with a confident forehand down the line winner. On his third opportunity, Fokina crashed into the net, hard, after attempting to track down a drop volley.

Emotions were volatile, too. Fokina was booed several times by the partisan crowd, who didn’t appreciate the Spaniard throwing in an underarm serve when facing break point at one stage, and later when his opponent wasn’t ready.

However, once the match ended, the two shared a warm embrace before Wild soaked up his winning moment. After signing a quick autograph, Wild climbed into his player box for more hugs with his team.

Fellow wild card Carlos Alcaraz, just 16, followed suit by ousting seventh seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas, 7-6 (2), 4-6, 7-6 (2) in an equally dramatic affair to win his tour-level debut.

Alcaraz, the ATP’s youngest player inside the Top 500, could have imploded late in the third set after failing to serve out the match at 5-4. He was broken at love, and in the ensuing game, couldn’t capitalize on three break points.

World No. 41 Ramos-Vinolas was two points from victory when leading 6-5, deuce, but that’s as close as he would get. Once the tiebreaker began to unfold, his countryman raced to a 6-1 lead and soon closed out a memorable debut after three hours and 37 minutes.