Nothing is ever given in the tough clay courts of the Roland Garros, and being a youngster like Joao Fonseca taking on the challenging task means a lot. However, the Brazilian rising star is making waves in the French Open as he pulled off a massive upset, this time beating Hubert Hurkacz en route to a straight-set win in his debut.

At the age of 18, Fonseca has just become the second-youngest match winner at the clay-court major in the last 10 years. The first and youngest player to do so? Carlos Alcaraz in 2021 – at the age of 18 as well. It does seem that youngsters and the Roland Garros seem to be syncing up well now more than ever.

Fonseca looks forward to establishing his name in the ATP Tour, and this small breakthrough in the French Open is a great sign that he is indeed making the best headways in his games and is definitely racking up the most impressive wins that he needs to continue a promising pace in the competition.

Breakout Season Continues for Fonseca

Beating Hubert Hurkacz in a 6-2, 6-4, and 6-2 affair in his first match in the French Open is a promising note considering that his debut was expected to be an early exit. After all, Hurkacz is an experienced star in his own right, so being able to pull off the win against him is a big break for Fonseca, and the task does not stop there as well.

“I played really well, focusing a lot on the returns and serves,” said Fonseca, last year's champion at the Next Gen ATP Finals. “I knew a lot of great serves were going to come and I was just focusing on putting the first return in, the plus one, the return plus-one, put it in the middle and try to be as aggressive as I can. Try to focus on opportunities, go to the net, and try to be aggressive when I can."

Fonseca proved his worth well in a packed Court 7 and fed off the energy from the crowd. The Brazilian star overpowered Hurkacz on all sides and matched his heavy-hitting plays with elite consistency. After ending up as a finalist in the ATP 250 event in Geneva, playing against Novak Djokovic in the final has certainly helped him set his pace in the clay major.

Coming in Hot

Fonseca now stands at 11-7 in the tour record this season. Ranked no. 57 overall, it is expected that the Brazilian will make deeper climbs in his games as he seeks to launch his stardom to the big stage as well. Fonseca will next face French veteran Pierre-Hugues Herbert, 16 years his senior.

This has been a night for Brazil. Fonseca is one of the few tennis pros to make their name on the big stage, and the youngster is still learning a lot of things and is yet to enter his prime years. To be able to win one game in the Roland Garros is already a huge achievement. With the pace he's going for right now? One can expect that he is definitely coming for a bigger chance to win in his games now more than ever.

Who knows, maybe a new upset champion is waiting on the sidelies to make his presence felt on the upper echelon of the ATP Tour.