Mumbai: The importance of the split-step when receiving serve cannot be stressed enough. It is that small hop, often forward, that keeps the body in motion and ready to spring towards the ball in whichever direction it may come. There was something peculiar in Joao Fonseca’s split-step when he had a match point on Andrey Rublev’s serve in the third set of their Australian Open first-round match.
As Rublev tossed the ball, Fonseca’s hop was more towards his right rather than straight ahead. On any other day, it might have been a risky move. But on Tuesday, in the 18-year-old’s first-ever main draw appearance at a Grand Slam, that too against the world No.9, Fonseca could do no wrong.
Rublev’s serve came, clocking 192 kmph, but Fonseca had read it well and was ready to hammer back a return that briefly threw the Russian off balance. A quick exchange and another powerful forehand up the line secured Fonseca the biggest win of his career, for now – and the biggest upset of the Australian Open this year so far.
In a match that lasted two hours and 23 minutes, Fonseca, the world No.112 who made it to the main draw as a qualifier, had beaten the ninth seed 7-6(1), 6-3, 7-6(5). “Not bad, huh,” he would say in his post-match interview on Margaret Court Arena.
In his Grand Slam main draw debut, the Brazilian teenager put on a display of powerful attacking tennis. In all, he hammered 51 winners to Rublev’s 33 – one of which clinched him the first set and another the match. If that wasn’t enough, he clobbered one forehand that clocked 181 kmph on the speed gun – the fastest winner of the tournament. Not bad at all.
Tuesday saw the wunderkid from Rio de Janeiro pick up his first top-10 win. But the way in which he has grown in this past year, a win like this was always on the cards.
A year ago to this day, Fonseca was ranked 727 in the world and had not yet turned professional. By February, he was handed a wild card at his home ATP 500 event in Rio, where he beat then world No.36 Arthur Fils and former No.17 Cristian Garin to reach the quarter-final.
The race up the ranking ladder would continue, especially after he picked up his first senior-level title at the Challenger in Lexington. By the end of last season, the 2023 junior boys US Open champion had qualified for the ATP Next Gen Finals as the lowest-ranked player (149 at the time), but went on to win the title.
He’s been piling on the wins this year as well. In fact, in the nine matches he has played so far in the 2025 season, he is yet to drop a set. It’s a run that has seen him win the Canberra Challenger last week, pick up the biggest win of his career on Tuesday, and assure a break into the top 100.
And he’s done it all with steely focus, especially in pressure situations.
He faced two such situations in the first and third set tiebreaks against Rublev. But he remained composed against the three-time Australian Open quarter-finalist and arguably produced his best tennis in the breakers.
“I just tried to put all the intensity into the important points,” he explained. “That’s one thing about myself, on the important points, I play better. I go for the shots and I have the courage. That was the difference today.”
At the end of the match, Fonseca was greeted with a warm hug and big smile at the net by Rublev. It was a greeting quite unlike the Russian, especially after a loss. But Rublev would have known that he put whatever he had into the match. This was not a match he lost.
It was a match Fonseca won.
Bopanna-Barrientos pair exits
Defending champion Rohan Bopanna and his Colombian partner Nicolas Barrientos lost in the first round of the men’s doubles event to the all-Spanish team of Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar.
The Spaniards scored a 7-5, 7-6(5) win over the 14th seeds in a match that lasted an hour and 54 minutes on Court 15 of Melbourne Park.
Bopanna, who turns 45 in March, had become the world No.1 doubles player during his triumphant run at the Australian Open last year, which he won with Matthew Ebden.
The veteran is currently ranked 16th, but will drop down further after Tuesday’s loss.
