TENNIS
With the rise, the 18-year-old tennis player consolidates himself as number three in Brazil
Published January 6, 2025 at 11:02 am
Tennis player João Fonseca Credit: Tiriac Open
Brazilian João Fonseca made a leap in the ranking of the Professional Tennis Players Association (ATP) in this Monday’s update. The country’s young promise gained 32 positions on the list of the best in the world and now appears in 113th place, the best of his career so far.
With the rise, the 18-year-old tennis player consolidates himself as number three in Brazil, behind only Thiago Wild (76th) and Thiago Monteiro (106th). Fonseca came from 145th place until he became champion of the Challenger in Canberra, Australia, at the weekend. The achievement, without losing a single set, allowed the Brazilian to jump, now closer to the Top 100.
Entering the Top 100 is one of the main goals of tennis players of this age. Being among the world’s tennis elite allows the athlete to enter the main draws of all four Grand Slams of the season, as well as facilitating their presence in lower level tournaments, such as the Masters 1000.
By becoming champion in Canberra, Fonseca won his second title in this type of tournament, which is second only to the ATP competitions (ATP 250, ATP 500 and Masters 1000). The first took place in Lexington, in the United States, in July last year. The Brazilian now has 10 consecutive victories because he is coming off the title of the Next Gen Tournament, which brought together the eight best in the world under 20 years of age, in December.
In a big moment, the young man from Rio will debut in the Australian Open qualifying in the early hours of this Tuesday, against Argentine Federico Augustín Gómez, 136th in the world. In Melbourne, Fonseca needs to win all three qualifying matches to enter the main draw of the first Grand Slam of the year. If he is successful, he will enter a bracket at this level for the first time in his career.
At the moment, Brazil has only one guaranteed in the main dispute of the Australian Open: Thiago Wild. Brazil’s number 1 lost two positions and fell to 76th this Monday, while Monteiro gained three positions: 106th.
In the women’s category, Beatriz Haddad Maia gained a position and now appears in 16th place. The Brazilian was coming off two defeats in singles matches in the United Cup, the competition that opened the season, back in December. This week, she competes in Adelaide, in preparation for the Grand Slam held in Melbourne.
The list of the 10 best in the world had just one change of positions in the men’s category. Australian Alex de Minaur overtook Russian Andrey Rublev and emerged in eighth place, pushing his rival to ninth place. In the female Top 10, there was nothing new.
Check out the list of the 10 best in the world:
1st – Aryna Sabalenka (BLR), 9.656 points
2nd – Iga Swiatek (POL), 8.120
3rd – Coco Gauff (USA), 6,888
4th – Jasmine Paolini (ITA), 5,399
5ª – Qinwen Zheng (CHN), 5.325
6ª – Elena Rybakina (CAS), 4.821
7th – Jessica Pegula (USA), 4,671
8th – Emma Navarro (USA), 3,551
9ª – Daria Kasatkina (RUS), 3,368
10ª – Barbora Krejcikova (RCH), 3.214
Check out the Top 10 of the men’s ranking:
1st – Jannik Sinner (ITA), 11,830 points
2º – Alexander Zverev (ALE), 7.635
3rd – Carlos Alcaraz (ESP), 7,010
4th – Taylor Fritz (USA), 5,350
5º – Daniil Medvedev (RUS), 5,030
6º – Casper Ruud (NOR), 4.210
7º – Novak Djokovic (SER), 3.900
8º – Alex de Minaur (AUS), 3.535
9º – Andrey Rublev (RUS), 3.520
10º – Grigor Dimitrov (BUL), 3.200
