Joao Fonseca +7 in ATP Rankings as French Open scheduling raises eyebrows

Oli Dickson Jefford 28 May 2025 4:13 PM

Joao Fonseca in action during a match.

João Fonseca is in line for a huge ATP Rankings breakthrough after a stunning French Open debut – though controversy continues to linger around the teen star’s match scheduling.

Making just his second Grand Slam main draw appearance, having automatically entered a major main draw for the first time, 18-year-old Fonseca stormed past 30th seed Hubert Hurkacz on Tuesday.

Fonseca barely put a foot wrong in a scintillating display against former world No 6 Hurkacz, beating the Pole 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 at Roland Garros.

Victory for the teen sensation comes after his breakout run at the Australian Open back in January, where he qualified for the main draw before a first-ever top-10 win over ninth seed Andrey Rublev.

“I played really well, focusing a lot on the returns and serves,” said Fonseca, in quotes reported by the ATP Tour.

“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.”

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Victory for world No 65 Fonseca has provided the 18-year-old a significant boost in the ATP Rankings, with the Brazilian currently sitting at a new high in the live rankings.

Fonseca currently sits at 58th in the live rankings, one place above a career-high ranking of world No 59 achieved earlier this year.

The Brazilian would provisionally move inside the top 55 of the rankings should he beat Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the second round on Thursday.

Fonseca does not turn 19 until August and has not completed a full season on the ATP Tour, but has already generated a significant following across the globe.

Brazilian flags have been evident across many of his matches in recent months, and he appeared to have a large amount of crowd support on Tuesday compared to Hurkacz.

Despite the obvious draw of Fonseca and Hurkacz’s opening-round match, one of the most intriguing on paper, the pair’s match was scheduled for Court 7, a non-show court at Roland Garros.

Pictures from the event show a large crowd building around the court, with several queuing for hours in an attempt to watch Fonseca play.

Many pundits have criticised the scheduling of the Brazilian’s match, considering the large following he generates, though fans could face a similar situation on Thursday.

Fonseca’s match against home favourite and former doubles world No 1 Herbert has been scheduled as the third match on Court 14.

Though Court 14 holds a slightly bigger capacity than Court 7, concerns have been raised regarding potential overcrowding ahead of the match.

With several French fans likely wanting to watch Herbert in action, fans again face to try and secure a seat for the second-round contest.