Brazilian teenager João Fonseca staged a stunning comeback from two sets down to reach the third round of Roland-Garros on Wednesday, setting up a marquee showdown with Novak Djokovic and headlining a memorable day for Latin American tennis in Paris.
The 19-year-old from Rio de Janeiro, seeded 28th in his debut as a French Open seed, looked headed for a shock exit on Court 14 against Croatia’s Dino Prizmic, the same player who had upset Djokovic in Rome earlier this month. Prizmic raced to a two-set lead 6-3, 6-4 before Fonseca found his forehand and his footing, taking the next three sets 6-3, 6-1 and closing out a five-set thriller after three hours and 27 minutes. He fittingly sealed the comeback with a forehand winner.
“For me it’s just a big pleasure. I always talk to my coach, like, ‘I want to be in Novak’s draw,'” Fonseca said in his on-court interview, according to the ATP Tour. “I just want to have this experience in my life.”
He will get it Friday. Djokovic, chasing a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title, booked his own passage with a four-set win over French wild card Valentin Royer to reach the third round at Roland-Garros for a record 21st consecutive year. The Serbian dropped the third set in a tiebreak and saved three match points before pulling through, setting up his first-ever meeting with the Brazilian teen many already see as the heir to South American clay-court greatness.
The other Latin American story of the day belonged to Argentina’s Solana Sierra. The 21-year-old from Mar del Plata, ranked 68th in the world, fought back from a set down to defeat 13th seed Jasmine Paolini, the 2024 Roland-Garros finalist, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. It was Sierra’s second straight win over a former Grand Slam finalist after dispatching 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu 6-0, 7-6 (4) in the opening round.
“I feel incredible to be in the third round. She is a great player. I’m very happy, I love this tournament,” Sierra told French former player Julien Benneteau on court, per Infobae. “I don’t know how I turned the match around, I just tried to stay positive, to enjoy the match and the atmosphere.” The Argentine, a junior finalist at Roland-Garros in 2022, will play Romania’s Sorana Cirstea for a place in the round of 16.
Sierra’s win extended an extraordinary opening week for Argentine tennis in Paris. Seven men reached the second round, including top-20 seed Francisco Cerúndolo, the Buenos Aires-born Mariano Navone, Thiago Tirante, Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Francisco Comesaña and qualifier Facundo Díaz Acosta. Román Andrés Burruchaga also advanced after countryman Sebastián Báez retired in the fourth set of their all-Argentine first-round clash.
Elsewhere in the draw, Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo overcame Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round, where he faces 16th seed Valentin Vacherot on Thursday. Bolivian veteran Hugo Dellien was eliminated by Frenchman Valentin Royer in the first round, while Bolivia’s Juan Carlos Prado Ángelo pushed Spain’s Martín Landaluce to five sets before falling 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-4.
The Latin American showing comes as the men’s draw has cracked open wide, with two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz forced to withdraw with a right wrist injury. Italian world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, undefeated on clay this season, arrives in Paris as the overwhelming favorite, but the absence of the Spaniard has left a clear path through several quarters of the draw — opportunity that Argentina’s deep stable of clay-court grinders, Brazil’s rising teen star and Chile’s Tabilo are all positioned to exploit.
Second-round play continues Thursday at Stade Roland-Garros, with Cerúndolo, Navone, Tirante, Ugo Carabelli and Tabilo all back in action. The women’s final is scheduled for June 6, the men’s final for June 7.
