Joao Fonseca posts message after ‘super positive’ French Open
Joao Fonseca has posted his first message on social media following his French Open exit with the rising star exchanging replies with Jakub Mensik, the man responsible for ending his dream.
The Brazilian has been tipped to become one of the best on the ATP since he made his breakthrough at the age of 17 in 2024 with many believing he will go on to become a Grand Slam winner.
Fonseca reached the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career with his run in Paris as he caused a sensational upset in the second round when he defeated tennis great and third seed Novak Djokovic in the third round, coming from two sets to love down to win in five sets.
He followed it up with another incredible win in the fourth round over Casper Ruud as he beat the 15th seed in four sets to reach the quarter-final, but he came up against an inspired Mensik as the Czech won 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).
Having been blown away in the first two sets, Fonseca put up a fight in the third as he saved six match points before the 27th seed finally wrapped things up at the seventh time of asking.
Fonseca started the tournament at No 30 in the ATP Rankings, but his run has earned him a five-place jump in the Live Rankings as he now sits just one place below his career-best of No 24.
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Following a well-deserved free morning in Paris, Fonseca took to Instagram to post a message, writing: “Yesterday it wasn’t meant to be, all credit goes to @mensik.jakub, but I lived a dream at Roland Garros.
“It was a super positive tournament, which gives me even more confidence and conviction in my tennis. Thank you everyone for the support. Time to recharge for the grass season.”
Semi-finalist Mensik responded, “Many more big battles to come my friend!” to which Fonseca replied, “Good luck.”
The Brazilian will now take a short break as he is not scheduled to be in action next week before kicking off his grass-court season at the ATP 500 Halle Open (15-21 June) while he has also entered the Eastbourne Open (22-28 June).
The grass-court season will then come to an end at Wimbledon and, as things stand, Fonseca will be seeded for his second appearance at the All England Club.
Last year, he reached the third round before losing to Nicolas Jarry.
