Brazilian sensation João Fonseca, 18, maintained the positive momentum he started at the end of last year, beating Argentine Thiago Tirante by 2 sets to 0 (6/4 and 6/1) in the early hours of this Thursday (9) and qualified for the main draw of the Australia Open. It will be the young tennis player’s first participation in a Grand Slam.
In his debut, Fonseca will have a difficult task ahead of him. In the first round, the Brazilian 113th in the ATP rankings (Association of Professional Tennis Players) faces the Russian Andrey Rublev, number 9, who was once the fifth best in the world. In 2024, the 27-year-old Russian won the titles at the Masters 1000 in Madrid and the ATP 250 in Hong Kong.
The Brazilian tennis player, in turn, arrives excited for the confrontation, with 13 victories in a row. Still at the end of 2024, Fonseca won the ATP Finals Next Gen tournament, which brought together the eight best tennis players under 20 years old in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He then won the Challenger 125 in Canberra, Australia, which serves as a preparation for the Australia Open.
To reach the main draw of the first Grand Slam of the year, Fonseca needed to win three preliminary qualifying matches. He is the youngest Brazilian to play the main draw of a Grand Slam in the open era — since 1968.
“I’m feeling confident, good. I’m very comfortable and I hope we can do great things in the main draw,” declared Fonseca.
In addition to the newest promise of Brazilian tennis, the country will also be represented in the singles draw of the Australia Open by Thiago Wild, Thiago Monteiro and Bia Haddad Maia.
