Joao Fonseca has done something no South American player has for 18 years after reaching the semi-final in Argentina

Joao Fonseca continues to take the tennis world by storm in 2025.

The Brazilian has rebounded from his five-set defeat to Lorenzo Sonego at the Australian Open by making his way through the field at the Argentina Open.

He was certainly thrown in at the deep end as Fonseca’s first three matches at the tournament were all against players competing on home soil.

But the teenager rose above the odds and saved match points in his quarter-final clash to make history for Brazilian tennis.

Joao Fonseca makes history as he reaches the Argentina Open semi-finals

Joao Fonseca squared off against Mariano Navone in the Argentina Open semi-finals.

Feeding off the energy of the home crowd, Navone put the ATP Next Gen Finals champion under all sorts of pressure.

Fonseca lost the first set and trailed by a break on two occasions in set two, before coming back to level the match.

In the closing stages of a tight deciding set, the 18-year-old saved match points before securing a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 win in two hours and 53 minutes.

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This means Fonseca is the youngest South American to reach an ATP Tour semi-final since Juan Martin del Potro in 2007.

Furthermore, he is also the youngest Brazilian semi-finalist in the Open Era.

Throughout the Argentina Open Fonseca has shown exactly why he has so many people excited about him.

He has shown not only his talent but his mental strength to overcome difficult situations on court at such a young age.

Fonseca will now face Laslo Djere in the semi-finals for a spot in his first main draw ATP Final, excluding the Next gen finals.

“Those are the victories we work for. I wasn’t playing my best. I fought til the end. I’m tired,” he said post-match.

“But I believed since the beginning. I believed I could win even if I wasn’t playing my best. Now I’m in the semifinals.”