Watch out Carlos Alcaraz, there’s a new young prodigy making waves in men’s tennis.
It’s been a little over a year since Joao Fonseca fully turned pro after a spell as the junior world no.1 and a US Open boys’ singles title win.
Fonseca is a Grand Slam winner at junior levelGettyThe Brazilian used to live next to the Rio de Janeiro Country Club and played on its clay courts with his mother Roberta as a youngster.
Alongside judo and football, Fonseca also joined his father Christiano in jiu-jitsu practice, where his athletic potential came to the fore.
In an interview with the ATP, Christiano said: “When he was two, we were like, ‘This boy is different.’
“I remember that my yoga teacher came here and he started playing with the ball with Joao and he said to me, ‘This boy is different.
“‘He has much more reflexes and coordination than the average.’ Very young, we knew he was different.”
Fonseca made his ATP debut in February 2023 as a wildcard entry for the Rio Open, where he was beaten by Alex Molcan in the first round.
Various other tournament appearances followed before his transition into proffesional tennis at the beginning of 2024.
He reached qualifying for Wimbledon and the US Open but couldn’t make his Grand Slam main draw bow in either.
But in December, he won the 2024 Next Generation ATP Finals, even though he was the lowest ranked player.
Fonseca made his major debut at this year’s Australian Open and won in straight sets against ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the first round.
Fonseca stunned Rublev on his senior debut at a major tournamentGetty He could be on course for plenty more ATP titles in the coming yearsArgentina Open glory in February saw him lift his first ATP title, and he became the youngest Brazilian player to win one in the Open Era.
With such success coming within the span of a year, it’s no surprise that Fonseca’s popularity in world tennis increased.
One way of measuring this is through social media, with the 18-year-old making history on Instagram just two months ago.
Fonseca is the youngest tennis player ever to hit a million followers on the site as per Tennis365, at the age of 18 years and seven months.
Emma Raducanu reached the seven-figure mark in September 2021 when she was aged 18 years and ten months.
Next is Alcaraz at 19-years-old in May 2022, with Coco Gauff hitting a million followers in September 2023 by an extra six months.
Raducanu was the youngest player to hit a million followers before FonsecaGetty Alcaraz also achieved the feat at a young ageGetty Gauff is another player who boasts a huge following on social mediaGettyBrazilian no.1 Fonseca is back amongst the Grand Slam action at this year’s French Open.
After a straight sets win over Hubert Hurkacz, victory against Pierre-Hugues Herbert sent him into his first major third round.
Fifth seed Jack Draper is up next in what will be just their second ever meeting on the tennis court.
Draper won their first match at Indian Wells in March, doing so in the second round before going all the way in California.
Court Simonne-Mathieu will host the clash on Saturday and whoever wins then faces one of Alexander Bublik and Henrique Rocha.
Fourth round victors will then make their way into the quarter-finals and a step closer towards a Grand Slam title.
Fonseca is already on his best ever run at a Grand SlamGetty But British star Draper could stop him in his tracksGetty Read More Details
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