18-Year-Old Joao Fonseca Caps Historic Week With Maiden ATP Title in Buenos Aires
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Joao Fonseca ended his sensational week at the 2025 Argentina Open in Buenos Aires with a trophy, beating Francisco Cerundolo in the final.
Fonseca has been playing some inspired tennis the whole week at the ATP 250 event in Buenos Aires. Almost in every round, he created some history, and he did that also in the final of the tournament.
On his way to the final match, the 18-year-old Brazilian beat three Argentinian players, so taking on another Argentinian was certainly not an issue for him.
Although Cerundolo stunned the top-seeded Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals of the event, he wasn't the overwhelming favorite in the final, despite having the home-ground advantage, which just proves the qualities of his teenage opponent.
Fonseca proved his undeniable qualities already in the first game of the match when he started by breaking his opponent's serve, but he also showed that he's still only a teenager by being broken back immediately.
Both then held their serves for a few games until the seventh game. When the scoreboard showed 3-3, Fonseca was able to create pressure and broke Cerundolo's serve, even though the Argentinian led 40-15 in the game.
The Brazilian teenager then held his serve in the following games to win the opening set of the match 6-4, establishing an important lead over his more experienced opponent.
Both players continued battling for ever point also in the second set. Early on, Fonseca was able to break first and lead again. The 18-year-old player was up already 4-2 and later also 5-3.
But when serving for the match and the tournament, his lack of experience and maybe some nerves showed again. Fonseca was broken, and it was game on again at 5-5.
But that wasn't the case for too long. The Brazilian broke to lead 6-5, but he was broken again when serving for the match. That meant the second set had to be decided in a tie-break.
Fonseca controlled the tie-break from start to finish, and he was able to win the match 6-4, 7-6(1), securing his maiden ATP title and becoming one of the youngest players to ever do so.
As an 18-year-old champion, he joined the likes of Kei Nishikori, Rafael Nadal, Michael Chang, and Carlos Alcaraz, who likely watched the match, as he was quick to congratulate the teenager.
Fonseca, on the other hand, enjoyed the feeling of winning the tile. Although he has his sight set on the Grand Slams and the World No. 1 spot, he said he just wants to enjoy playing tennis.
"Unbelievable week. Even in Argentina there are Brazilians cheering for me. That’s amazing. Every Brazilian, everyone from their country wants this support from your own country. What I’m living is just unbelievable."
"I wanna thank my friends and sponsors for helping me achieve my dream. To just play tennis. My real dream is to play tennis. Of course, I want to be number one and win Slams. But my dream is just to play tennis."
