Joao Fonseca Sets Historic Mark in Reaching Top 100
Joao Fonseca has been on a tear since 2024, and he continues his massive rise to the ATP Rankings so far. After a successful yet short push in the 2025 Australian Open, it seems that the Brazilian star is just getting started on his massive climb after putting up impressive feats in his major main draw debut in Melbourne.
At the age of 18, Fonseca is now the youngest player to ever breach the Top 100 of the ATP Tour, which is a former record held by Carlos Alcaraz, who pulled off the same feat in 2021. He is also the second-youngest South American teenager to crack the Top 100 this century behind Juan Martin del Potro.
So far, sky’s the limit for Fonseca, and his massive game continues to be on the rise as he gets the cheers from the crowd, which says a lot about how he is starting to gain stardom at this point in time. Now sitting at world no. 99, it seems that this is a chance that he must make the most of if he is going to continue his ascension.
Joining the Top 100
Fonseca’s rise to dominance has been highly anticipated. He has managed to come up with a dream start to the season by capturing an ATP Challenger Tour title in Canberra before reaching his maiden major main draw at the Australian Open, even delivering a huge upset when he defeated the ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the first round.
“I'm excited to join the Top 100, play the big tournaments, get my place in this environment and keep working to go bigger,” Fonseca said during a Melbourne press conference. “I think for me, in my opinion, the sky's the limit. You need to work more and more to reach your dream, which is to become No. 1.”
The expectations are on the high side now more than ever, and it seems that Fonseca’s chances are not that bad. He is now the youngest Brazilian to ever grace the Top 100, beating Cassio Motta, who reached the elite group as a 19-year-old in 1979. Former World No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten accomplished the feat just before his 20th birthday.
At the age of 18, it seems that Fonseca is rallying yet another massive run to consider in his games. He may well be the next Carlos Alcaraz, and this is definitely spicing up another huge campaign to remember.
Managing Expectations
Fonseca just turned pro last February 2024, and he did a lot of great works to make the most of his chances. He is second in the ATP Live Race to Jeddah, just trailing Learner Tien by a meager 25 points. It can also be remembered that Fonseca defeated Tien in the previous year’s Jeddah title match, which says a lot about how the expectations for him are set and ready to roll.
“From Brazil, the repercussions are just big. People are getting to know a little bit more of me. That's super nice. The Brazilian people like to cheer a lot for this promising kid,” Fonseca said, referring to himself. “But at the same time, you need to be focused. People are going to say a lot, have more expectations. You need to stay focused on your routine, to work more and more.”
So far, this has been a magical start to the season for Fonseca, and you can definitely expect that he will get the best out of his games now more than ever.
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