With his 7-6 (7/1), 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) victory over Andrey Rublev on Tuesday night at Margaret Court Arena, João Fonseca accomplished a few milestones in his budding career.
In addition to being his first victory over a player ranked in the top 10, it also happened during his first Grand Slam tournament appearance.
It would have been reasonable for any casual tennis fan to believe they were watching a seasoned pro when they watched Fonseca’s Australian Open first-round match.
However, it appeared that the 18-year-old already sat among the games’ well-established stars based on the clinical way he handled world No. 9 Rublev in straight sets.
Fonseca amazed tennis fans after dismissing Rublev in straight sets. One fan wrote: “Welcome to the top 100; we’ll see you in the top 10.’ What a banger line.”
Another commented: “It is not going to take long with this guy. By next year, at the latest, I think. What a fun time to be a tennis fan! What a João!”
One weighed in: “A star is born.”
One wrote: “Saw the game live. Had never heard of the kid. All I can say is WOW.”
Fonseca at the Australian Open, ranking, and results in 2025
Ranked no.112 (career-high), the Brazilian owns an overall 9-0 match record in 2025. The Brazilian is participating at the Australian Open where he conquered the world no.134 Federico Agustin Gomez 6-4 6-0, the world no.171 Chak Lam Coleman Wong 6-0 6-3, the world no.116 Thiago Agustin Tirante 6-4 6-1 and the world no.9 Andrey Rublev 7-6(1) 6-3 7-6(5)
.Joao Fonseca will come up against the world no.55 Lorenzo Sonego in the 2nd round on Thursday at 6:00 pm on 1573 Arena. Their head to head is 1-0 for Fonseca.
Joao has won 1 title in 2025 in the Canberra Challenger.
Andrey Rublev in 2025
Ranked no.9, Rublev played his last match on the 14th of January when he lost to world no.112 Joao Fonseca 7-6(1) 6-3 7-6(5) in the 1st round of the Australian Open (draw).
Until now, during this year the Russian has a 0-2 record.
Andrey Rublev will take on the world no.16 Frances Tiafoe in the Round Robin. The head to head is 3-1 for Tiafoe.
Rublev won 17 titles in his career: 5 on hard courts, 6 on clay courts and 6 on indoor courts. (See the list of his titles)
He is also scheduled to play in Rotterdam (ABN AMRO Open) on the 3rd of February and () on the 30th of December.
Joao Fonseca and Andrey Rublev squared off only once. Their actual record is 1-0 for Fonseca. When they played, Joao Fonseca won 7-6(1) 6-3 7-6(5) in the 1st round in Melbourne (Australian Open) on the 14th of January 2025.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.