Joao Fonseca set to secure career-high ranking after winning ATP Challengers in Phoenix

Brazil’s Joao Fonseca is set to see a career-high ranking after an impressive outing at the ATP Challengers event. The 18-year-old, who is already regarded as the one for the future, lifted the ATP 175 title in Phoenix after beating Alexander Bublik in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 7-6.

With that win, Fonseca is now set to have a career-high ranking. He will be the new world number 60 in the ATP rankings announced on Monday. The win was an important one for Fonseca, who came into the competition on the back of a disappointing outing at the Indian Wells, where he was knocked out after losing in the second round to Britain’s Jack Draper in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-0.

Despite that, Fonseca managed to turn things around quickly and produced a brilliant performance in Phoenix, where he lost just one set in the whole competition. He won the first-round encounter Pavel Kotov in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-4. In the second round, the Rio de Janeiro-born star defeated Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff with a score of 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

In the quarterfinal, Fonseca defeated France’s Hugo Gaston in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-4. In the semifinal, the youngster managed to defeat the former world number four Kei Nishikori in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-3. With that win, he becomes only the third South American player to win three or more ATP Challengers titles aged 18 or under. Talking after the match, Fonseca shared his happiness by highlighting that winning the competition was ‘super, super hard’.

“It is my third Challenger title, so just super happy with this one,” said Fonseca. “This one was really important to me after losing to [Jack] Draper last week. Having a good run at this Challenger, a 175, but it could be like an ATP 250 by the ranking of the players, easily. It was super, super hard.”