Joao Fonseca has spent the past year attracting plenty of attention, and he showed exactly why at the 2026 French Open.
The Brazilian teenager reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, his best Grand Slam showing to date, before losing to Jakub Mensik.
Along the way, Fonseca pulled off a stunning comeback against Novak Djokovic, rallying from two sets down in what was arguably one of the best matches of the season.
He followed that up by taking down two-time French Open finalist and clay-court specialist Casper Ruud in four sets. Although his run ended in the last eight, Fonseca made it clear he’s a name to watch.
Patrick Mouratoglou on what sets Fonseca apart
Posting to 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.”
“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.”
Mouratoglou isn’t alone in noticing what makes Fonseca special, either – in fact, Patrick was asked about some comparisons being made between Fonseca and Andre Agassi recently as well. Check out his response below:
Fonseca’s 2026 ranking shift after the strong French Open
Fonseca started the year ranked 29th in the world, but a few early setbacks saw that number slip.
He was knocked out in the first round of the Australian Open and then lost his opening match while defending his title at the Argentina Open.
A couple of ordinary runs in Indian Wells and Miami saw him drop as low as 40th, but he found some form again with a quarterfinal run at Monte-Carlo.
Until this year’s French Open, Fonseca had never gone beyond the third round of a Grand Slam, reaching that stage twice—once in Paris last year and again at Wimbledon 2025.
This time, his quarterfinal appearance has pushed him up to 25th in the ATP live rankings, just one spot short of his career high of 24th.
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