Joao Fonseca couldn’t contain his emotions after moving into the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time on Thursday at the French Open.
Cheered on by a highly animated pro-Brazilian crowd, Fonseca beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6(4), 7-6(4), 6-4, to record his second straight sets win in a row. According to OptaAce, Fonseca is the youngest player to reach the last 32 in Roland Garros without dropping a set in the last 25 years. He is also the third Brazilian man to reach this stage of the tournament over the last decade after Thiago Monteiro in 2020 and Thiago Seyboth Wild in 2023.
Speaking to ESPN after the match, Fonseca burst into tears after reaching a new milestone in his career during what has been a breakout season. Earlier this year, he won his maiden ATP title in Buenos Aires and scored his first top-10 win over Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open.
“It was a lot of emotions. Going to the third round. It was really a dream because of that,” Fonseca later explained during his press conference.
“After that, I saw my grandmother entering the court. She was crying. So it’s really nice. And it’s my mom’s birthday, so it makes it more special.
“Being in the third round is just incredible. I’m very happy with the way that I played.”
Whilst he still has work to do to be among the best in the world in terms of performance, the youngster already has an army of fans. Earlier this week, there were massive queues of people trying to get in to watch his opening clash against Hubert Hurkacz. Fonseca also benefited from a high level of support when he took on Herbert.
“Sometimes I feel goosebumps when the people are shouting or I make a good point and they call my name. It’s just super nice. It’s a vibe that I can’t explain,” he said.
“It’s just incredible to represent your country and they are cheering for you. Then after the match, I just can’t talk because they shout so loud, they make a lot of noise. It’s an amazing vibe.”
The support certainly helped him get out of some tricky situations in Paris against Herbert. He was down a break in the first set, down a break in the second set and was then trailing 0-3 in the second set tiebreaker. In what was a test of his mentality, as well as physicality, Fonseca said the key to his comeback was being ‘brave.’
“Brazilians, when they are in trouble, they find a way to manage themselves. I would say in important moments I just try to be brave, to be courageous,” he explained.
“I think that’s the difference between the good guys in the top 50 from the top 10, they need to be brave, they need to know how to play in important moments.”
Fonseca is currently 54th in the ATP live rankings.
