It didn’t. Current number 3 in world tennis, German Alexander Zverev beat Brazilian João Fonseca in the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters, this Friday morning (10), and goes to the semi-finals of the professional tennis championship.
Zverev took the match by 2 sets to 1, with partials of 7/5, (3) 6/7 (7) and 6/3. He must now face the winner of the dispute between Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime and Italian Jannik Sinner, which also takes place this Friday morning.
Despite the defeat, the tournament is historic for João. It was the first time that the 19-year-old from Rio reached the quarter-final stage of a Masters 1,000. Previously, he had beaten Italian Matteo Berrettini in the round of 16, winning by 2 sets to 0 (6/3 and 6/2).
Fonseca repeats the good moments of Brazilian tennis on European clay, following in the footsteps of two-time champion Gustavo Kuerten, Guga, as the only ones to reach the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo, and remembering Thomaz Bellucci, the last to reach this far in a Masters, in 2011, in Madrid, where he was a semifinalist.
This Friday’s clash represented yet another great challenge for the Brazilian this season. In previous matches, despite defeats against Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, respectively leader and vice-leader of the ATP rankings, Fonseca managed to impose difficulties on his experienced opponents on the courts of Miami and Indian Wells.
João Fonseca’s campaign at the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 2026
- Stage of 64: João Fonseca 2 x 0 Gabriel Diallo (CAN)
- Stage of 32: João Fonseca 2 x 1 Arthur Rinderknech (FRA)
- Round of 16: João Fonseca 2 x 0 Matteo Berrettini (ITA)
- Wednesdays: João Fonseca 1 x 2 Alexander Zverev (ALE)
The duels helped consolidate the young man’s confidence in Monte Carlo, where he broke a writing streak of more than 20 years. Since 2005, such a young tennis player has not reached the quarterfinals in Monaco. At the time, Spaniard Rafael Nadal and Frenchman Richard Gasquet were just 18 years old when they faced off for a place in the tournament’s semifinals —Nadal would end up champion.
In the current 2026 season, Fonseca is competing in his sixth tournament, having so far recorded eight wins and five defeats. Before Monte Carlo, he was in action at the Australian Open, the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires, the Rio Open, and the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells and Miami.
His best result so far had been the round of 16 in California, when he played a great game, decided in detail, against the then runner-up in the rankings, Sinner.
