Joao Fonseca proved exactly why there has been so much hype around him over the past year at the 2026 French Open.
The 19-year-old Brazilian recorded his best-ever Grand Slam result so far, reaching the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, before ultimately falling to Jakub Mensik.
En route, Fonseca defeated Novak Djokovic by coming back from two sets down in arguably the match of the season.
Where do you think Joao Fonseca will be ranked at the end of the 2026 season?
He then went on to beat two-time French Open runner-up and clay-court specialist Casper Ruud, besting the Norwegian in four sets.
Despite falling in the last eight, Fonseca well and truly announced himself to the tennis world, and Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, had incredibly high praise for the young star.
Patrick Mouratoglou discusses Joao Fonseca’s game
In a post on Instagram, Mouratoglou said: “Players play with rifles. He plays with a bazooka.
“Joao Fonseca has an incredible game. Probably the most impressive is his forehand, because on average it’s fast, 130 kilometres per hour. So the same speed as Alcaraz, Sinner, Musetti and Jodar.
“And it’s the combination between pace and RPMs, more than 3,000 RPMs. But what is very impressive with his forehand is the fact that he has this average, and when he decides to accelerate, it’s a bomb.
“This is the change of pace that is the most impressive. And especially with the forehand. He can do it with the backhand too, but the difference between his average goes from 130 to maybe 170.
Which Grand Slam title would you like to see Joao Fonseca win?
“He suddenly hits the forehand with way less spin, way flatter, with a lot of success, he doesn’t miss much, and he hits the fastest forehand of the whole of Roland Garros this year at 180 kilometres per hour, which is crazy.
“And I think even for the opponent, it’s really scary because they know that at any moment he decides he pulls the trigger and boom, there is a bomb arriving on their side of the court.
“So that’s a huge asset, this forehand. It’s really special.”
Joao Fonseca’s ranking changes so far this season
Fonseca began the year ranked 29th in the world, but that number dropped after a few disappointing results to kick-start his campaign.
He lost in the opening round of the Australian Open, and then fell in the first match of his Argentina Open title defence.
Fonseca dropped to as low as 40th in the world following indifferent runs in Indian Wells and Miami, but turned things around at the Monte-Carlo Masters, where he made the quarterfinals.
Prior to this year’s French Open, Fonseca’s best Grand Slam result was a third-round finish, which he achieved in Paris last year, as well as at Wimbledon 2025.
By making the quarterfinals in the French capital this time around, he has risen to 25th in the ATP live rankings, which is just one spot below his career-high of 24th.
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