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João Fonseca (tennis)

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João Fonseca
Fonseca in Cary in 2024
Country (sports) Brazil
ResidenceRio de Janeiro
Born (2006-08-21) 21 August 2006 (age 18)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro2021
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CoachGuilherme Teixeira
Prize money$284,313
Singles
Career record7–8 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
1 Challenger
Highest rankingNo. 156 (14 October 2024)
Current rankingNo. 156 (14 October 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
WimbledonQ1 (2024)
US OpenQ3 (2024)
Doubles
Career record0–3 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
1 Challenger
Highest rankingNo. 431 (26 February 2024)
Current rankingNo. 522 (14 October 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open JuniorF (2023)
Wimbledon JuniorSF (2023)
US Open JuniorQF (2023)
Team competitions
Davis Cup2–1
Last updated on: 14 October 2024.

João Fonseca (born 21 August 2006) is a Brazilian professional tennis player. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 156 achieved on 14 October 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 431 achieved on 26 February 2024.[1]

Early life

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Fonseca was born in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, to parents Roberta and Christiano Fonseca.[2][3] His father is CEO and co-founder of IP Capital Partners, the first independent Hedge fund in Brazil.[4] Fonseca began playing tennis at the age of 4 at the Rio de Janeiro Country Club which was next to his home.[5]

Career

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2023: First Brazilian Junior world No. 1, ATP debut

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Fonseca reached the final of the 2023 Australian Open – Boys' doubles tournament with Alexander Blockx,[6] João Fonseca became the Junior champion of the 2023 US Open - Boys' singles tournament with a victory over Learner Tien in the final.[7][8]

Fonseca was the 2023 world champion of the Junior circuit. At 17 years old, he was the first Brazilian to finish the season as No. 1 in the junior rankings.[9]

He made his ATP debut at the 2023 Rio Open after receiving a wildcard for the singles main draw[10] and also appeared in the doubles main draw, entering as lucky losers with Mateus Alves.

2024: First ATP & Masters wins & Challenger title, top 155

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In January 2024, the 17-year-old Rio native reached the semifinals of the Buenos Aires Challenger, his first in his career in this type of tournament. Until then, Fonseca had reached the quarterfinals in two challengers, the first in 2022 in São Leopoldo and the most recent in 2023, in Florianópolis.[11]

Ranked No. 655, he made a second appearance in the main draw at the 2024 Rio Open after receiving a wildcard in singles and also in doubles qualifying with Marcelo Zormann.[12] He recorded his first ATP and first ATP 500 win over seventh seed Arthur Fils in straight sets, giving away only four games.[13] Excluding the Davis Cup, he became the first South American to claim an opening set 6-0 against a top 50 ranked opponent before turning 18, since the ATP rankings were first published in 1973.[14] He also became the first player born in 2006 to win an ATP Tour match.[15][16][17] Next, he defeated Cristian Garin in straight sets to reach his first ATP quarterfinal. As a result he moved 300 positions up, making him the youngest player in the top 350 in the rankings. He became the second youngest ATP 500 quarterfinalist since the series began in 2009 and the first since Alexander Zverev made the last eight in Hamburg in 2014.[18] Days after the end of his run in Rio, Fonseca was rewarded with a second consecutive ATP Tour tournament wildcard at the 2024 Chile Open.[19] Later that week, he officially announced his decision to fully turn pro, forgoing his eligibility to play college tennis and ending his commitment to the University of Virginia.[20]

In March, at the 2024 Paraguay Open, Fonseca defeated Argentine Román Burruchaga to reach his first ATP Challenger final and made his top 300 debut at world No. 288 on 1 April 2024 moving more than 50 positions up in the rankings.[21] He lost to compatriot Gustavo Heide in the championship match.[22] Ranked No. 276, he received a wildcard for the 2024 Țiriac Open in Bucharest, Romania and reached the quarterfinals of an ATP Tour event for the second time, defeating sixth seed Lorenzo Sonego, his third ATP tour win,[23] and fellow qualifier Radu Albot.[24] He lost to fourth seed Alejandro Tabilo. As a result he reached the top 250 in the rankings.[25] Fonseca received a wildcard for the main draw of the 2024 Madrid Open, making his debut at a Masters 1000 and defeated American Alex Michelsen,[26] recording his first win at this level.[27][28]

Ranked No. 217, at the beginning of the grass season, he also received a wildcard for the main draw of the 2024 Halle Open.[29]

He reached the top 175 at world No. 166 on 5 August 2024, climbing close to 50 positions up, following lifting his maiden Challenger title at the 2024 Lexington Challenger. At 17 years old, he was the youngest Challenger champion of the 2024 season.[30][31][32]

Performance Timelines

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles

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Current through the 2024 Wimbledon Championships.

Tournament 2023 2024 SR W–L Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A 0 / 0 0-0  – 
French Open A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Wimbledon A Q1 0 / 0 0–0  – 
US Open A Q3 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0 / 0 0–0  – 
ATP Masters 1000
Indian Wells Open A A 0 / 0 0-0  – 
Miami Open A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Monte-Carlo Masters A A 0 / 0 0-0  – 
Madrid Open A 2R 0 / 1 1–1 50%
Italian Open A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Canadian Open A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Cincinnati Open A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Shanghai Masters A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Paris Masters A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Win–loss 0–0 1–1 0 / 1 1–1 50%
Career statistics
2023 2024 Career
Tournaments 1 6 7
Titles 0 0 0
Finals 0 0 0
Overall win–loss 0–1 5–6 5–7
Year-end ranking 730 42%

ATP Challenger Tour finals

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Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

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Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (1–1)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Mar 2024 Asunción, Paraguay Challenger Clay Brazil Gustavo Heide 5–7, 7–6(8–6), 1–6
Win 1–1 Jul 2024 Lexington, USA Challenger Hard Australia Li Tu 6–1, 6–4

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

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Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (1–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Jan 2024 Buenos Aires II, Argentina Challenger Clay Brazil Pedro Sakamoto Germany Jakob Schnaitter
Germany Mark Wallner
6–2, 6–2

ITF World Tennis Tour finals

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Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

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Legend
ITF WTT (0–1)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Jun 2023 M15 Saarlouis, Germany WTT Clay Switzerland Dylan Dietrich Switzerland Luca Staeheli
France Robin Catry
1–6, 2–6

Exhibition matches

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Singles

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Result    Date    Tournament Surface       Opponent       Score
Win Jun 2024 Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic, London, United Kingdom Grass Australia Alexei Popyrin 7–6(13–11), 6–3

Junior Grand Slam finals

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Singles: 1 (1 title)

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Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 2023 US Open Hard United States Learner Tien 4–6, 6–4, 6–3

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

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Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2023 Australian Open Hard Belgium Alexander Blockx United States Learner Tien
United States Cooper Williams
4–6, 4–6

References

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  1. ^ "Joao Fonseca | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  2. ^ "Fast-rising Joao Fonseca: 'Challengers are important for my development' | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  3. ^ "Joao Fonseca | Bio | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  4. ^ "Após quase 30 anos, fundadores fatiam IP | Finanças | Valor Econômico". archive.ph. 2024-02-22. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  5. ^ "Joao Fonseca | Bio | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  6. ^ "Nas duplas do Australian Open juvenil, João Fonseca fica com o vice – Bola Amarela Brasil". bolamarela.com.br. (in Portuguese)
  7. ^ "João Fonseca é campeão do US Open juvenil e vira número 1 do mundo: "Aqui é Brasil, po..."". Globo.com. 9 September 2023. (in Portuguese)
  8. ^ "US Open 2023: A future star, a dominant force and wins for two 'firsts' - champions glow for Team Yonex".
  9. ^ João Fonseca é o campeão mundial da ITF em 2023 (in Portuguese)
  10. ^ "João Fonseca, carioca de 16 anos, jogará chave principal do Rio Open". O Globo. 22 January 2023. (in Portuguese)
  11. ^ Fonseca tem grande atuação e faz sua primeira semi de challenger (in Portuguese)
  12. ^ "What Fonseca learned from Alcaraz, Sinner & more at the Nitto ATP Finals". 20 February 2024.
  13. ^ https://twitter.com/TheTennisLetter/status/1760412774671491456
  14. ^ https://twitter.com/OptaAce/status/1760400863053709379
  15. ^ "Brazil's João Fonseca becomes first player born in 2006 to win ATP Tour match at Rio Open". 21 February 2024.
  16. ^ "Fonseca, 17, stuns Fils in Rio: 'This is where I belong'". 21 February 2024.
  17. ^ "Joao Fonseca, 2023 US Open boys' champion, is the first player born in 2006 to win an ATP Tour match".
  18. ^ "Teen Dream: Fonseca fires into Rio QFs". 23 February 2024.
  19. ^ "ATP DRAW 2024 Chile Open Santiago headlined by Nicolas JARRY, Sebastian BAEZ, Arthur FILS and Joao FONSECA". Tennisuptodate.com. 2024-02-25. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  20. ^ "Joao Fonseca turns pro, forgoing college eligibility | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  21. ^ Fonseca bate 161º do mundo e faz primeira final (in Portuguese)
  22. ^ "#NextGenATP Rocha downs Basilashvili for maiden Challenger title; Heide beats Fonseca in Asuncion Challenger final". 25 March 2024.
  23. ^ "17-year-old Fonseca continues breakthrough season in Bucharest". 16 April 2024.
  24. ^ "Fonseca fires past Albot to Bucharest QFs". 18 April 2024.
  25. ^ "Tabilo ends Fonseca's run in Bucharest". 19 April 2024.
  26. ^ Madrid Open 2024: veja rivais de Bia Haddad, Thiago Wild e João Fonseca na estreia (in Portuguese)
  27. ^ "#NextGenATP Fonseca wins first Masters 1000 match in Madrid, Mensik also advances". 25 April 2024.
  28. ^ "Joao Fonseca wins Masters 1000 debut in Madrid over fellow teen Alex Michelsen". 25 April 2024.
  29. ^ "Fonseca after climbing 500 spots in six months: 'Tennis is about steps'; #NextGenATP Brazilian competes as a wild card this week in Halle". ATPtour.com. 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  30. ^ "Fonseca follows in Sinner's footsteps with Lexington Challenger title". ATPtour.com. 5 August 2024.
  31. ^ "Joao Fonseca wins his first Challenger title and makes a giant leap in the ATP ranking". 5 August 2024.
  32. ^ "Challenger Q3: Fonseca's first title marks milestone breakthrough". ATPTour. 9 September 2024.
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