- There is nothing like a grand slam upset to mark your arrival in the tennis world.
Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca was already earning rave reviews before the Australian Open but has a new legion of fans after dumping world No.9 Andrey Rublev out of the tournament in straight sets in the first round.
The 18-year-old qualifier’s Instagram followers almost doubled beyond half a million in the day after his 7-6 (7-1), 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) defeat of Rublev as excitement builds about one of the sport’s best prospects.
Fonseca is yet to lose or even drop a set this year, winning the Canberra Challenger event before breezing through Open qualifying and then beating Rublev, a quarter-finalist at Melbourne Park last year. Those results followed the former junior world No.1 triumphing at the ATP’s Next Gen Finals.
“It’s just amazing, for me, what I did. My first win in a grand slam, my first win against a top-10 player, my first time playing in the main draw of a grand slam,” Fonseca said.
“So, everything’s new for me, but I played such a good match. I’m very happy with myself, very proud of the way that I fought, and the way that I stayed mentally [strong] on every game, every point.”
Fonseca slashed almost 600 spots off his year-end ATP ranking to finish 2024 at No.145, but is now projected to make his top-100 debut.
‘We’re going to put Joao Fonseca’s name on the list of the best players in the world really soon.’
Carlos Alcaraz on Joao Fonseca
There is belief that he could join Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in a new “big three”, after Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic dominated tennis for a combined two decades.
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