Joao Fonseca matches 21-year Nadal record at Monte Carlo Masters
Joao Fonseca has pulled off something we haven’t seen since Rafael Nadal at the Monte Carlo Masters. The Brazilian teenager hasn’t had the smoothest start to 2026, but there were signs of progress during the Sunshine Double, where only Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz managed to stop him.
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Joao Fonseca has pulled off something we haven’t seen since Rafael Nadal at the Monte Carlo Masters. The Brazilian teenager hasn’t had the smoothest start to 2026, but there were signs of progress during the Sunshine Double, where only Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz managed to stop him. There’s already a lot of hype around Fonseca, with many expecting him to go far in the sport.
Despite the attention, he seems comfortable with it all. His recent win over Arthur Rinderknech at Monte Carlo was another step forward. Joao Fonseca matches Rafael Nadal’s feat in Monte Carlo with impressive run Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images Fonseca secured a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 win over Rinderknech to follow up his opening-round victory against Gabriel Diallo.
It’s only the second time in his career that Fonseca has reached the last 16 of an ATP 1000 event, and he’s done it on his first appearance at the Monte Carlo Masters. At just 19 years old, Fonseca is now the youngest player to reach this stage of the tournament since 2005. Nadal had actually already hit this milestone two years earlier when he was just 16.
Carlos Alcaraz didn’t make it this far in Monte Carlo until he won the title at age 21. How Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet performed at the 2005 Monte Carlo Masters Fonseca will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of both Nadal and Gasquet, who did not stop at just the last-16 stage of the 2005 Monte Carlo Masters. Gasquet had come through qualifying that year, before beating top seed Roger Federer and 10th seed Nikolay Davydenko to reach the semifinals.