Coco Gauff has strong advice for Joao Fonseca after he beats Andrey Rublev as she shares the prediction she made about him

Follow us on Google Discover

Joao Fonseca is the talk of the tennis world currently, after his shock win in the first round of the Australian Open.

We expected to see Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, and Carlos Alcaraz grab headlines at the Australian Open, but a certain 18-year-old qualifier may well have outdone them already.

Fonseca beat Andrey Rublev in straight sets to secure his first main draw win at a Grand Slam event.

It perhaps wasn’t all that surprising, as Fonseca had won the Next Gen ATP Finals at the end of 2024, going undefeated at the event.

Beating a top-ten opponent at the Grand Slam level is a much tougher achievement, however, and taking down three-time quarter-finalist Rublev certainly made the tennis world take notice.

Following his break-out win, one of the WTA Tour’s brightest stars has given her thoughts on the brilliant Brazilian.

Coco Gauff predicted Joao Fonseca to beat Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open

Speaking after her second-round win over Jodie Burrage, world number three Coco Gauff revealed what her prediction was for Fonseca’s Grand Slam debut.

“I wasn’t surprised, I kind of called it,” she said.

“I said that he was going to beat [Andrey] Rublev.

“I didn’t think it was going to be straight sets, I thought it was going to be four.

“I’ve been on the [Joao] Fonseca train since early.”

The American star then recalled her first memories of the young Brazilian.

“I first knew of Fonseca two years ago when I won US Open,” said Gauff.

“He won [the] Junior US Open, I took a picture of him.

“That’s when I was like, Who is this kid?

“He won Junior US Open at 16, [he] has to be good.

“So I started following his career from there, his challengers, obviously still leading up to that, and then Next Gen.”

Gauff finished off by giving the world number 112 some strong advice.

“Yeah, he’s good, I don’t know him at all personally,” she said.

“I’ve just been a fan of him for at least a year and a half, two years.

“It’s great to see, like, him on the biggest stage performing well. 

“Hopefully he’ll stay on his lane, stay in his lane, not listen to the hype and enjoy it. 

“He seems like a great personality, too.”

Joao Fonseca set to be the youngest top-100 player after the Australian Open

Following his first-round win in Australia, Fonseca rose to 98th in the live ATP rankings, a career-high for the 18-year-old.

His ranking could yet rise, as he gets set to take on Lorenzo Sonego in the second round, as the Brazilian continues to go from strength to strength.

Not only will Fonseca be the only 18-year-old ranked inside the top 100, but he will be the only player of his age ranked inside the world’s top 300, with 18-year-old Joel Schwarzler the next highest-ranked player, at 318th.

Fonseca’s win over Rublev was an incredible performance and one that gave fans reason to believe that the youngster will continue to rise up the rankings in the near future.

Fonseca will be looking to make his way into the third round with a win over Sonego on Thursday, January 16.