‘Off the charts’: Tennis world in awe of teen after freakish number emerges

A freakish number and a revealing smile said it all as tennis’ next big thing dropped jaws around the world at the Australian Open.

A star has been born at 181km/h.

Brazilian teen Joao Fonseca has marked himself as the next big thing in tennis with a thunderous upset win over ninth seed Andrey Rublev a the Australian Open on Tuesday night.

The qualifier produced the biggest upset of the tournament when blasting the Russian off the court 7-6 (7/1) 6-3 7-6 (7/5) on his grand slam debut.

The fearless 18-year-old was already marked as a tennis prodigy — and there is no hiding it now. In the space of 18 hours, his Instagram following has exploded from 295,000 followers to more than 470,000.

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Fonseca last month became the second-youngest champion of the NextGen ATP tournament since current world number one Jannik Sinner claimed the title, also aged 18, five years ago.

Fonseca won a second ATP Challenger Tour title in Canberra this month, then powered through qualifying at Melbourne Park to take his place in his maiden Grand Slam main draw.

His run is far from over.

“I think when I arrived here my first goal was to qualify for the main draw,” said Fonseca, who is ranked 112 in the world and came into the first-round meeting with 27-year-old Rublev on a 13-match winning streak.

“Of course, my expectations are bigger now. I want more and more.

“I think that’s the mentality of the champion.”

The tennis world has been left in awe of his effortless power hitting and one number in particularly has dropped jaws.

Remember the name João Fonseca, Photo: X, The Tennis Letter.

He unleashed a 181km/h forehand rocket in the third set — the fastest forehand winner the tournament has seen this year.

Still far from the terrifying final form his body will take as he continues to mature, Fonseca is nothing short of a physical freak

Leading American tennis commentator and former coach Brad Gilber wrote on X Fonseca’s hitting was “off the charts” — having taken the title from French powerhouse Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Spanish superstar Carlos Alcaraz.

The popular Olly tennis X account posted Fonseca’s forehand is a “cheat code”.

The Tennis Letter account posted Fonseca’s favoured goundstroke is “terrifying”.

Tennis content creator Bastien Fachan described the performance as a moment similar to when Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Alcaraz announced themselves on the world stage.

Poor Rublev was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Rublev could only shake his head with a rueful, defeated smile as they embraced the net.

His stunned face said it all about.

Fonseca next faces Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego in the second round.

He had never faced a top-10 player before, but if he was nervous he did not show it as they went toe-to-toe before Fonseca clinched the first set emphatically on the tie break.

A star is born. Photo by WILLIAM WEST / AFP.

Unleashing some seismic ground strokes, the Brazilian raced into a 3-0 lead in the second set, at one point beckoning the Margaret Court Arena crowd to show some more appreciation.

Fonseca took the second set with an ace.

He was in trouble in the third when Rublev broke for a 3-1 lead, but the youngster broke back immediately to put his more experienced opponent back under pressure.

They went to the tie break again and Fonseca powered into a 4-0 lead, then staved off a mini Rublev fightback to seal the deal on first match point.

“My first win in a Grand Slam, my first win against a top-10 player, my first time playing in the main draw of a Grand Slam,” said Fonseca.

“So everything’s new for me, but I played such a good match. “I’m just very happy with myself, very proud the way that I fought and the way that I stayed mentally on every game, every point.”

— with AFP