Joao Fonseca ends season after withdrawing from 2025 Athens Open

Joao Fonseca's roller coaster year is officially over after he withdrew from next week's inaugural 2025 Athens Open.

The 19-year-old made it evident that he was targeting the indoor hard-court swing by skipping the 2025 Shanghai Masters, a decision that seemed unwise when Valentin Vacherot stunned tennis fans worldwide by winning the title.

The move looked even worse when Fonseca began the indoor hard court swing by losing to Botic van de Zandschulp in the opening round of the 2025 European Open after a lackluster performance.

Fonseca's fortunes dramatically altered at the 2025 Swiss Indoors in Basel. The Brazilian reached the quarterfinal after beating Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and receiving a walkover from the injured Jakub Mensik.

His quarterfinal with Denis Shapovalov ended strangely. When Fonseca broke to go 4-1 up in the third set, the Canadian suddenly retired from the contest despite not showing any signs of injury before that.

Fonseca completed his run to a maiden ATP 500 title with triumphs against the Spanish duo Jaume Munar and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the latter of whom predicted he would be the next Novak Djokovic in the future.

Although appreciative of Davidovich Fokina's words, Fonseca said he is not a fan of comparisons because all players have unique journeys. The teenager also mentioned that he is not playing near Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner's level yet.

Understandably, Fonseca did not achieve the same success at the 2025 Paris Masters, but he still performed well. He beat Shapovalov for the second time in as many weeks, recovering from losing the first set again.

Karen Khachanov ended Fonseca's winning streak. The rising star fell 1-6, 6-3, 3-6 in front of a fiercely partisan crowd. Despite the geographical difference between France and Brazil, Fonseca received incredible support from many of his compatriots in the stands.

Next week's Athens Open replaces the Belgrade Open. Novak Djokovic and his family own the tournament license, and the 24-time Grand Slam champion recently moved to Athens amid reported tensions with the Serbian government.

Despite a worrying fitness update from his brother, Djokovic is on the Athens Open entry list and hopes to play at the tournament. The tennis legend withdrew from the Paris Masters in an attempt to get fit.

Fonseca initially intended to finish his memorable season, which also included winning the 2025 Argentina Open in February, at the Athens Open, but that will no longer be the case after his withdrawal.

The teenager had no visible injury issues against Khachanov. It is much more likely that Fonseca wants to use the extra week for rest ahead of the 2026 season after the busiest year of his young career.

Alejandro Tabilo replaced Fonseca on the Athens Open entry list. The Chilean won his third career title at the 2025 Chengdu Open just over a month ago. He saved championship points before overcoming Lorenzo Musetti, which reduced the Italian to tears.

Tabilo is also known for having a 2-0 head-to-head record against Novak Djokovic. The most recent of those victories was earlier this year at the 2025 Monte-Carlo Masters.