Brazil’s João Fonseca has made history at Wimbledon, becoming the youngest man to reach the third round since Bernard Tomic in 2011. The 18-year-old Fonseca secured his spot in the third round by defeating American Jenson Brooksby with a score of 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday.
Not only did Fonseca rewrite All England Club history with his win, but he also became the first Brazilian man to reach this stage of the grass Grand Slam since Thomaz Bellucci in 2010. The match against the 24-year-old Brooksby lasted three hours and 14 minutes, ending in Fonseca’s favor.
Next up for Fonseca is a match against Chile’s Nicolás Jarry in the third round. Fonseca made his Wimbledon debut by defeating Great Britain’s Jacob Fearnley in straight sets 6-4, 6-1, 7-6.
In 2024, Fonseca climbed the professional rankings significantly, going from outside the top 700 to No. 145. He had a successful run at the ATP 500 event in Rio de Janeiro and went on to win the Next Gen ATP Finals alongside Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
During his first appearance at a Grand Slam tournament, Fonseca pulled off an upset by defeating Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open. He later claimed his first ATP Tour title at the IEB+ Argentina Open in Buenos Aires and is currently ranked No. 54 in the world.
In the second round at Wimbledon, Fonseca impressed with 50 winners against Brooksby. Despite a strong effort from the American, Fonseca held his ground and closed out the match with a 6-4 victory in the fourth set.
Fonseca is now set to face Jarry in an all-South American third-round match at Wimbledon.