Joao Fonseca is a name tennis fans are taking note of.
Born on 21 August 2006, the 18-year-old Brazilian has burst onto the main stage in quite some fashion, showing off to the world the form that saw him enjoy a blistering 2024.
Starting the year ranked outside the top 700, Fonseca first flashed his big-game smarts on home turf in Rio de Janeiro, where he made it to the quarters of the ATP 500 event hosted in the Brazilian city.
The dreamlike run sparked the 2023 US Open boys’ singles champion to aim high, and by year’s end, he had surged from No. 727 to No. 145 in the rankings, remarkably earning a spot in the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah.
The sensational season, however, didn’t stop there.
Fonseca went on to win the tournament and, in doing so, became the third-ever 18-year-old to win the prestigious event, with only Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz before him.
The Brazilian hotshot built on his triumph in Saudi Arabia with a run to the second round of the 2025 Australian Open, where he won his first duel with a top 10 player in world number nine Andrey Rublev.
In the latest milestone of his sensational rise, Fonseca secured his maiden ATP Tour title in Buenos Aires, and in style as one of the youngest champions in ATP Tour history.
Fonseca overcame three of Argentina’s home hopes en route to the final, going on to defeat Argentine no. 1 Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets for a fairytale first title of his senior career.
As he continues to cause a stir, here’s what else you should know about the Brazilian hot shot.
Joao Fonseca: Brief biography
- Name: Joao Fonseca
- Born: 21 August, 2006 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Height: 185cm
- Parents: Christiano and Roberta Fonseca
- Coach: Guilherme Teixeira
- Plays: Right-handed
- Titles: NextGen ATP Finals (2024), Argentina Open (2025)
Joao Fonseca: Scouted by a yoga instructor
A big serve, an explosive forehead, and baseline prowess: Fonseca is a tennis starlet unafraid to show off his impressive skill set.
But, according to one person, the young Brazilian had special sporting instincts very early on.
Back when Fonseca was just a toddler, his father Christiano used to practise jiu-Jitsu, hosting in-home yoga lessons to help his development.
While Christiano would work on his craft, Joao would play with a ball to entertain himself; it was then his father and the yoga coach spotted something unique.
“When he was two, we were like, ‘This boy is different,’ Christiano told ATPTour.com in an interview. “I remember that my yoga teacher came here and 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.”
To help hone his child’s instincts Christiano later made a net in the room so the two could play mini-tennis matches.
“We made a little net in the middle and I played with my father a lot,” Joao continued to ATPTour.com.
“My dad would play a match to 10 and it would be 9/3 and he would make it 9/9, and then sometimes he made me win and other times he would make it 11/9, a win for him. And I cried, I remember.”
His idol is Roger Federer
It perhaps isn’t all that surprising given the legacy of Roger Federer that Fonseca should be a fan of the 20-time Grand Slam-winning Swiss maestro, but it’s an admiration runs deep.
After masterminding one of the greatest upsets at the 2025 Australian Open when he dispatched No. 9 seed Audrey Rubley on his Grand Slam debut Fonseca quoted the tennis legend.
When asked in an on-court interview about his natural talent, the Brazilian replied: “Like Roger says, ‘Talent is not enough without hard work. I put a lot of work in. That’s it.”
Speaking further in a post-match press conference about Federer the Brazilian admitted after that like most fans, he used to try to emulate the star’s distinct way of playing.
“When I was younger, the one-handed backhand. I tried it for, like, one week, and then I have something in my elbow, and then I forgot.”
Consider him a fan of Rafael Nadal, too
In addition to being a supporter of the life and works of Federer, Fonseca also has some special memories with superstar Rafael Nadal.
During the ATP Next Gen event last December, the Brazilian had the chance to meet Nadal and took the opportunity to show him an old photo featuring the Spaniard, a four-year-old Fonseca, and his mother, Roberta Fonseca.
The picture had been taken in South Africa during the 2010 FIFA World Cup final with Nadal clearly wearing a Spanish jersey and matching face paint.
The trio then recreated the photo with Nadal posing between the mother and soon.
The special meeting followed a lifetime of Fonseca studying Nadal with the Brazilian a regular attendee of the Rio Open – the same event that inspired him last year. Nadal won the event in 2014.
