Joao Fonseca pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament so far as he made his Australian Open debut.
The 18-year-old came through qualifying to reach the main draw at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time but had a tough draw, facing No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev.
Fonseca took the challenge in his stride, shocking the former quarter-finalist in straight sets.
Despite being ranked down at No. 112, the tennis world has been following Fonseca’s rise for a while and expected big things when he turned up in Melbourne for Australian Open qualifying.
The Brazilian teenager has long been touted as the next big thing in tennis and he proved his supporters right by winning the Next Gen ATP Finals in December – a tournament for top players under the age of 21, which has previously been won by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
Fonseca carried his form into the new season, picking up a Challenger title in Canberra before storming through the Australian Open qualifying draw. But he was handed a brutal draw for his Grand Slam debut, coming up against Rublev.
The 18-year-old rose to the occasion, announcing himself on Tuesday as he sent Rublev packing with a statement 7-6(1) 6-3 7-6(5) victory on a packed Margaret Court Arena. The ninth seed could only smile and laugh as they shook hands at the net, conceding that Fonseca was the better player.
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