Long after the cheers for his name had faded, Joao Fonseca remained on the clay of Court 7. Armed with a black marker, his match-worn baseball cap now reversed, he suddenly appeared just like any other 18-year-old again, a stark contrast to the maturity he displayed during his match. Fonseca patiently posed for selfies with dozens of fans and signed autographs on anything presented to him – tennis balls, hats, shirts – for both children and adults. After finishing with fans on one side, he moved to the other, seemingly determined to reach everyone who had stayed.
He smiled widely throughout, embodying a teenager thrilled to be at his first French Open. However, his performance during his opening round match on Tuesday told a different story. Against Hubert Hurkacz, the tournament`s 30th seed and a former Wimbledon semifinalist, Fonseca was dominant. He seized control early, breaking Hurkacz in the third game of the first set, and left little doubt about the outcome from that point on.
In front of a passionate crowd packing every available seat of the 1,500-capacity court, with Brazilian flags waving and hundreds more waiting outside for a glimpse, Fonseca proved why he has long been regarded as tennis`s next superstar. He defeated Hurkacz convincingly with a score of 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in a mere 1 hour and 40 minutes.
While Fonseca told reporters Tuesday that simply reaching the second round was “just a dream come true,” his upcoming match against Pierre-Hugues Herbert on Thursday is now one of the most sought-after tickets. With every match he plays, every spectacular shot, and every victory over a top-ranked opponent, the prodigious teenager`s fame will only continue to soar. Yet, he sounded prepared for it all.
“The expectations are going to come. People are going to talk, compare [me] with other people, other players,” Fonseca said after his win over Hurkacz. “For my mentality, it`s just good to be with good people that can help me to stay with a good mentality that I need. I need to do the best that I can [to] improve my routines, stay with good people, stay healthy and not focusing on the expectations.” He added, “I`m managing to do very well, but sometimes the pressure is going to come. It`s normal. You need to deal with it.”
Fonseca`s impressive display for the Court 7 crowd on Tuesday was familiar territory for those who have followed his rapid and thrilling journey on the tennis circuit.
Fonseca truly captured global attention in 2023 by winning the US Open boys` title and claiming the world No. 1 junior ranking in the same year. He made history as the first Brazilian player to finish the year with the top junior ranking, drawing praise from the sport`s biggest names. He was invited to attend the year-end ATP Finals as a hitting partner for stars like Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Daniil Medvedev.
Just three months later, Fonseca secured his first ATP Tour victory – a head-turning 6-0, 6-4 win over seventh seed Arthur Fils at his hometown Rio Open, an event he had attended as a fan since early childhood. He went on to reach the quarterfinals of the 500-level event, with his matches drawing enthusiastic, soccer-like crowds throughout the week. His ranking surged. Although initially slated to play college tennis at the University of Virginia starting in the fall of 2024, Fonseca decided to forgo his collegiate eligibility and turn professional.
The excitement surrounding him continued to build.
Fonseca was the first male player born in 2006 to win on tour, and he continued to collect numerous “youngest” distinctions as the season progressed.
He won his first Challenger title, becoming the youngest player to do so that season, and steadily climbed the rankings. By the end of 2024, he was in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for the Next Generation ATP Finals, featuring the top eight male players aged 20 and under. As the youngest and lowest-ranked player in the field at No. 145, he won the title.
While few others had any doubt, this victory was validating for Fonseca. “It was super important for me to see that I`m on the right path,” Fonseca later told ESPN. “To be playing against the top eight best guys under 20, just to see how good they are, it was great to be able to win the title and a super cool experience.”
And even his far-more established peers couldn`t hide their admiration. “I personally believe it`s just the beginning of him rising up in the rankings and showing his actual true potential,” Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2021 French Open finalist, told reporters at the United Cup the following week. “I think we`re going to see big things from him in the next few years.”
Fonseca quickly delivered on Tsitsipas` prediction just weeks later. After winning his three qualifying matches, Fonseca made his eagerly awaited major main draw debut at the Australian Open. His first-round match against the No. 9 seed and 10-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Andrey Rublev was a memorable formal introduction to the tennis world with a 7-6 (1), 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory.
The crowd – many wearing Brazilian soccer jerseys – roared in ovation following match point, and he celebrated like a seasoned veteran. He later mentioned it was his first time playing in a “huuuuuge stadium.”
He lost his next match in a five-set battle to Lorenzo Sonego but cracked the top 100 following his performance in Melbourne.
And his momentum didn`t stop there. In his next tournament, the Argentina Open, Fonseca transformed from a prodigy brimming with potential to a star of the present by winning the first ATP title of his budding career. He became the youngest Brazilian player in history to win on the tour and the fourth-youngest ATP player to win a title this century, behind only Kei Nishikori, Rafael Nadal, and Alcaraz.
While Fonseca has always had big goals for himself, even he was surprised by just how quickly the results had arrived. “I was hoping I could go this far, but not this fast,” Fonseca told ESPN while sitting in the player`s lounge at Indian Wells a few weeks later. “I was working hard for this, but yeah, this has been faster than [even] I could imagine.”
During Nadal`s press conference on Sunday following an on-court ceremony honoring him, the 14-time French Open champion was asked about just one current player. It wasn`t Alcaraz or Iga Swiatek, the reigning champions both in attendance, nor any of the other favorites for the 2025 title, but instead, Fonseca.
“He`s a very young player that started his career doing very, very well,” Nadal said. “He has a great future in front. I wish him all the very best. I met him a couple of times. Seems like he has a very good interaction with his family and people next to him. He`s very well educated. I really hope that he has a great future in front.”
And the question to Nadal was hardly an anomaly. It feels like every top player has been asked about Fonseca lately. Coco Gauff, herself a recent teenage phenom, proclaimed she`s been “on the Fonseca train since early.” Alcaraz, another former teenage prodigy turned superstar, said Fonseca`s “potential is huge” and praised his “really, really high” level.
Even Novak Djokovic, the 24-time major champion who was once an up-and-coming star himself, has been impressed by what he`s seen.
“He seems to be handling [the expectations and attention] very well,” Djokovic said. “I mean, I don`t know him personally so well, but from what I have seen on the court, not only the way he plays but the way he behaves, and people around him, seems like there is a very good level of balance and professionalism and devotion, like what we have seen for the last couple years with Alcaraz. He has the potential to be really a superstar of this game. No doubt about it.”
For Fonseca, still just 18, it`s been surreal at times to hear players he`s admired for much of his life know who he is, let alone speak so highly about him. He`s still getting used to seeing players like Grigor Dimitrov and Alex de Minaur next to him on the practice court but admits sometimes it all just doesn`t feel real. His matches have drawn huge, often near-capacity crowds around the globe, frequently with hordes of passionate Brazilian fans, complete with flags and yellow-and-green gear. The atmosphere was so electrifying at the Miami Open, where he reached the third round, Fonseca later remarked he felt like he “was in Brazil.”
On Tuesday, he estimated about “80% of the crowd was Brazilian” on Court 7 – and called it “super nice.”
He still can`t entirely believe it when someone stops him to take a picture, but it`s becoming more normal to him with each tournament – and he`s always happy to do it.
“Three years ago, I was the kid asking for the picture,” Fonseca said. “I know what it means. It`s a dream come true that people are now inspired by me.”
Despite the growing whirlwind of enthusiasm around him, Fonseca and his family are trying to keep things as normal and relaxed as possible for now. While agencies like Roger Federer`s Team8 have reportedly tried to sign him, he`s declined to have a formal agent, relying instead on his parents – his father Christiano is the founder and CEO of a Brazilian hedge fund – to manage things for him.
He brought on Franco Davin, who guided Juan Martin del Potro to US Open victory in 2009, as a member of his team earlier this spring, but Fonseca`s primary coach is still Guilherme Teixeira, whom he first met and started training with as a 12-year-old at the Rio de Janeiro Country Club. Fonseca`s inner circle is small, and he prefers it that way. Those around him keep him grounded and focused on his path.
Like most young players, especially those who have already achieved so much, Fonseca has significant dreams for his career. But he insists he`s only thinking about the immediate next steps, knowing those are what will lead him to his ultimate goals. Right now, his focus is on making the main draw for every major this season and improving his ranking enough to play in as many Masters 1000-level and 500-level tournaments as possible.
He`ll have a chance to reach the third round at a Grand Slam for the first time with his next match against Herbert, a French journeyman nearly twice his age, on Thursday. Tuesday`s victory is likely to move him to a new career-high ranking around No. 57, and another win would propel him just outside the top 50. Jack Draper, the No. 5 seed, or beloved Frenchman Gael Monfils would potentially await in the Round of 32.
Fonseca admitted he struggled at times this spring with the weight of external pressure. He said it made him feel tense on the court and took away some of his enjoyment. But he says he`s found a way past that and is now ready to simply appreciate his time in Paris, however long it lasts, and no matter how many people are watching and predicting his future.
“Now I`m feeling very comfortable,” Fonseca said. “I`m feeling very happy on court. Happy and playing good.”
Marcus Bellamy