Joao Fonseca offers blunt assessment of his performance after another defeat

Joao Fonseca discusses what he needs to improve on after his Rio Open exit

Joao Fonseca’s struggles in 2026 continued at the Rio Open, as he was knocked out in the second round by Ignacio Buse.

Fonseca had started his home tournament with a win over Thiago Monteiro, but he couldn’t build on that momentum. He dropped a tight opening set 7-5 before fighting back to take the second 6-3. But Buse took control late in the decider, sealing it 6-4.

The victory made history for Buse, who became the first Peruvian player to reach an ATP 500 quarterfinal since the format began in 2009.

The Brazilian teenager hit 43 unforced errors during the match and has now lost three times already this year. Afterward, he spoke candidly about his performance and acknowledged that there’s plenty of work still to do.

Joao Fonseca responds to Rio Open second-round defeat

Speaking to Tenis Brasil after the match, Fonseca said: “At this level, you can’t miss opportunities like that. It was silly of me; I got a little flustered at times, but it’s a process, keep improving, keep working.

“I’m sad about this defeat, but I’ll move on. I managed to break serve when things were relatively difficult [in the first set], but I think it was more his fault than my merit.

“And then in the second set, I missed a big opportunity and couldn’t find my way back into the match. There are things to improve. It was about making fewer mistakes.

“If I hadn’t made mistakes, I probably would have won, right? But knowing that tennis isn’t like that, there are going to be games where you make more mistakes.

“Today was a day when I couldn’t find my rhythm; I kept trying to find it. Anyway, that’s tennis.”

How Joao Fonseca’s ATP Tour season has unfolded so far

Fonseca, who missed the Brisbane International due to injury, made his season debut at the Australian Open but fell in the first round to Eliot Spizzirri.

He then started his first title defence at the Argentina Open but was knocked out by Alejandro Tabilo in a three-set match.

He picked up his first win of the year at the Rio Open, defeating fellow Brazilian Thiago Monteiro in straight sets.

But following his defeat to Ignacio Buse, Fonseca’s record stands at 1-3 for the year, with Indian Wells and Miami up next on the calendar.

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