RIO DE JANEIRO.- The Brazilian tennis player Joao Fonseca This Monday he celebrated a “wonderful” 2025, in which he climbed from 145th to 24th place in the world ranking of the ATP and projected a 2026 of “greater pressure.”
“It was a wonderful year. Things have happened very quickly,” said Fonseca, 19, at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro, where his preseason began.
The promising player from Rio won his first championship on the circuit in February, the Argentina Open (ATP 250), and won the tournament in October Basel (ATP 500).
She competed for the first time in the main draws of the Grand Slams and reached the round of 64 in Australia and the US Open and the round of 32 at Wimbledon and Roland Garros.
“I reached my first main key in a Grand Slam” and “from there we went up,” Fonseca highlighted.
Along the way he became the fifth tennis player in Brazilian history in the top-25, after Gustavo Kuerten -only number one-, Thomas Bellucci, Thomas Koch and Fernando Meligeni.
Looking ahead to 2026, “expectations are good,” stressed the Rio native, the youngest player in the top-100.
“Now I’m going to defend the points, which is more difficult. People say: ‘he’s 24th, next year he’s going to finish in the top-10 easily’, but that’s not the case (…), there will be greater pressure,” Fonseca warned. “I have to be prepared.”
With an eye on Australia
The new season will begin with the Brisbane and Adelaide tournaments, at the end of December and beginning of January, in preparation for the Australian Open.
Likewise, he will have Davis Cup commitments with Brazil early on, between February 6 and 8 against Canada.
And that same month he will defend his title in Buenos Aires.
Before the official competition, Fonseca will have an exhibition game with the world number one, the Spanish Carlos Alcarazon December 8 at LoanDepot Park, in Miami.
“It’s going to be super fun,” he said. “It is an immense opportunity to share the court with Alcaraz. I am eager to get started,” he concluded.
