Montreal, August 6: Next Gen ATP star Joao Fonseca made a remarkable comeback at the 2026 Montreal Masters, defeating former finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(3), 7-5 to advance to the third round.
This match marked Fonseca’s first tour-level appearance since his loss to Roman Safiullin in the third round at Wimbledon last month. He was on track for a straight-sets victory but lost his serve while attempting to close out the second set at 5-4.
However, the 19-year-old rallied, winning eight of the next nine points to secure his victory. With this win, he became the first Brazilian player since Gustavo Kuerten to reach the third round of a Canadian ATP Masters 1000 event.
Fonseca, who defeated Tsitsipas in last year’s Davis Cup, improved his head-to-head record against him to 2-0. His next match will be against either ninth seed Casper Ruud or Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
In a post-match interview, Fonseca reflected, “I think the Joao from last year might have lost his cool. Now, I am a more mature Joao. I hadn’t played for a few weeks, so I knew I would be a bit tense while serving. I felt good, played some solid returns, and then applied pressure.”
Determined to start strong after losing to qualifier Tristan Schoolkate in his opening match last year, Fonseca is now 17-12 for the 2026 season, according to the ATP win/loss index. His journey to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros in June, where he defeated Novak Djokovic, has been particularly noteworthy.
Tsitsipas, who reached the finals in Canada in 2018, is working to regain his form this season. The former world number 3 recently won his first title in 16 months at Gstaad and has climbed six spots in the PIF ATP live rankings to reach number 47.
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