After the chant of his name disappeared, Joao Fonseca stayed in the clay of Court 7.
Armed with black markers, his match-covered baseball cap turned backwards, and once again looking 18 years old after a game he surpassed his age, Fonseca posed for a selfie with dozens of fans. He signed signs for children and adults, tennis balls, hats, shirts, everything that was placed in front of him. When he finished with all the fans on one side of the court, it seemed he had moved towards the other side and reached everyone who stayed.
He smiled broadly throughout and looked like a teenager simply excited to be in his first French open.
However, his play in his first round match on Tuesday told a different story. During the clash with Hubert Halkacchi, the number 30 seed of the tournament and former Wimbledon semi-finalist Fonseca. He took control early – smashed Harukachi in the third game of the opening set – and by chance he barely left.
In front of a crowd of voices packed into all available seats in the 1,500-person capacity courthouse, fans lined up on the railings at the top with Brazilian flags, waiting hundreds outside in hopes of a glimpse of a peek, proving that Fonseca has long been considered tennis’s next superstar. He beat Hurkacz 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in just an hour and 40 minutes.
Fonseca told reporters Tuesday that reaching the second round would “just make a dream come true,” but Thursday’s match against Pierre-Hugues Herbert will be one of the most coveted seats in this week’s tournament. And every match played by Fonseca, every highlight-making shot and every victory over top-ranked opponents, continues to drive the incredible teenagers to new fame. But he sounded all ready for it.
“Expectations will come. People will talk, talk to other people, other players, and compare (me),” Fonseca said after beating Harukachi. “It’s good to be with good people who can help me stay in the good mentality I need. I need to improve my routine, stay with good people, stay healthy, and do my best to focus on my expectations.
“I manage to do well, but sometimes there’s pressure. That’s normal. You need to deal with it.”
Fonsecanon 💥#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/tebhba3f2f
– Roland Garros (@Roland Garros) May 27, 2025
Fonseca’s hero against the seven-person crowd on Tuesday was nothing new to those who followed him on his short but thrilling journey on the tennis scene.
Fonseca officially notified the world in 2023 by winning the US Open Boys title and winning the world’s No. 1 Junior in the same year. He became the first Brazilian player in history to finish the year at the top rankings, attracting attention for the sport’s biggest name. He was asked to attend the ATP final at the end of the year as a hit partner for Carlos Alkaraz, Janik Sinner and Danil Medvedev.
Just three months later, Fonseca recorded his first victory on the ATP Tour. At Fonseca’s hometown of Rio Open, Arthur Phils, the seventh seeded Arthur Phils recorded a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Arthur Phil, who had been present since childhood. He reached the quarterfinals of the 500-level event and portrayed football-like crowds throughout the week. His rankings have risen. Initially he was scheduled to play at the University of Virginia in the fall of 2024, but Fonseca decided to abandon his college eligibility and become an expert.
The excitement around him continued to build up.
Fonseca was the first man to win the tour in 2006 and continued to gain many other “youngest” distinctions as the season progressed.
He won his first Challenger title in August (the youngest player to win that level last season) and continued to steadily climb the rankings. By the end of 2024, he was in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for the next generation ATP final. Fonseca was the youngest player in the field and the lowest player at No. 145. He won.
There was little doubt, but the victory was Fonseca’s verification.
“It was very important to me to see that I was on the right path,” Fonseca later told ESPN. “It was great to be able to win a title and a super cool experience to see how good they are,” he said.
And even his far established companions could not hide their admiration.
“Personally, I believe he’s just standing up in the rankings and showing his true potential,” 2021 French open finalist Stefanos Zitzpas told reporters for the United Cup next week. “I think we’ll see something big from him in the next few years.”
Fonseca worked well with Tsitsipas’ claim a few weeks later. After winning three qualifying matches, Fonseca was enthusiastically waiting for his major main draw debut at the Australian Open. In the first round match between No. 9 seed and 10th Grand Slam quarter finalist Andreil Brev, Fonseca confirmed that his formal introduction to the tennis world was memorable with his 7-6 (1), 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory.
The crowd, where many were wearing Brazilian football jerseys – cried out in a squirt following the match point, celebrating like a veteran. He later said it was his first time playing “Huuuuuge Stadium.”
He lost his next match in a five-set battle with Lorenzo Sonego, but fell into the top 100 after his performance in Melbourne.
And his momentum didn’t stop there. In the next tournament, Fonseca went from potentially to current star, winning the first ATP title of his burgeoning career at the Argentina Open. He became the youngest Brazilian in history, winning the Tour and the fourth youngest ATP player, and in this century he won the title after only Kay Nishikoli, Rafael Nadal and Alkaraz.
Fonseca has always had a big goal for herself, but was surprised at how quickly the results came.
“I was hoping to get here, but this wasn’t fast,” Fonseca told ESPN a few weeks later, sitting in the Indian Wells player’s lounge. “I was working so hard for this, but yeah, this is faster than I could have imagined.”
At a press conference in Nadal on Sunday after an on-court ceremony honoring him, the 14-time French Open champion was asked about one current player. Even the incumbent champions who attended the ceremony were not Alcaraz or Iga Swiatek, nor Fonseca, who were the other favorites to win the 2025 title.
“He was a very young player and he was doing very well in his career,” Nadal said. “He has a great future ahead of him. I wish him the best. I have met him several times. He seems to have a very good interaction with his family and next to him. He is very well educated.
And the questions to Nadal were almost nonexistent. Recently, it feels like all top players are being asked about Fonseca. Coco Gough is a recent teenage futures, and she declared that she “has been on Fonseca’s trains since early on.” Another former teenage genius-turned superstar, Alcaraz, said Fonseca’s “potential is huge” and praised his “really, really high” level.
Even Novak Djokovic, a once-promising star, a 24-time major champion, was impressed by what he saw.
“He seems to handle (expectations and attention) very well,” Djokovic said. “I mean, I don’t know him very well personally, but from what I saw in court, not only the way he plays, but his behavior and the people around him seem to have a very good level of balance, professionalism and commitment, as we’ve seen in the last couple years.
For Fonseca, only 18, it was sometimes surreal to hear players praise him for knowing who he is. He’s still used to seeing players like Grigor Dimitrov and Alex de Minaurus next to him on the training court, but he admits that it’s not all authentic. His matches attracted huge, often near-close capacity crowds from around the world. Often, horde of passionate Brazilian fans feature flags and yellow and green gear. The atmosphere was very moving at the Miami Open, where he reached the third round and later stated that he felt “in Brazil.”
On Tuesday, he estimated in Court 7 that “80% of the crowd were Brazilians,” calling it “very good.”
When someone stops taking photos, he still can’t believe it completely, but it’s becoming more normal for him in each tournament – and he’s always happy to do it.
“Three years ago, I was a kid looking for photos,” Fonseca said. “I know what that means. It’s a dream that people are inspired by me now.”
Despite the growing tornado of enthusiasm around him, Fonseca and his family are trying to make it as relaxed as normally as possible. Agents like Roger Federer’s Team 8 are well known for trying to sign him, but he has been refused to have an official agent for now. Instead, he relies on his parents (his father Christian is founder and CEO of a Brazilian hedge fund) to play the role for him.
He brought Franco Davin. He led Juan Martin del Potro to an open victory as a member of the team early this spring in 2009, but Fonseca’s main coach is still Guillejame Teixeira. Fonseca’s inner circle is small and he likes it. The people around him remain rooted in maintaining the course and remain focused.
Like most young players, especially those who have already achieved a lot, Fonseca has big dreams for his career. However, he insists that he only thinks about the next step, and knows that these will lead him to his ultimate goal. Now he has created main draws for all majors this season, improving his rankings well enough to allow him to play in as many Master 1000 and 500 level tournaments as possible.
He will have the chance to reach the third round for the first time in the Grand Slam in his next match against Herbert, a French journeyman almost twice his age, on Thursday. With Tuesday’s victory, he is likely to move to a new career-high ranking around No. 57, with another victory pushing him just outside the top 50.
Fonseca admitted that he struggled with the weight of external pressure this spring. He said he made him feel nervous in court and took away some of his fun. However, he says he finds a path past it and is ready to thank him for his time in Paris. How long it is. And no matter how many people look at what it means for his future.
“Right now I feel very comfortable,” Fonseca said. “I feel very happy in court. I’m happy and playing well.”
