At 18, Brazilian tennis player Joao Fonseca won the Argentina Open on Sunday afternoon. Fonseca is a rising star, there is no doubt. However, things got murky when tennis pundits said he was the 10th youngest to win an ATP title.
History is made …#JoaoFonseca wins his first tournament in Argentina against #Cerundolo !
Watch this young man from #Brasil !!!
The sky is the limit…@atptour @ArgentinaOpen— Boris Becker (@TheBorisBecker) February 16, 2025
It is worth noting that fellow teenage prodigy Boris Becker has been one of Fonseca’s biggest fans. However, he is not a fan of how tennis’s recordkeeping processes work.
Youngest champions in ATP Tour era (since 1990):
16y 10m 18d – Lleyton Hewitt
17y 9m 21d – Andrei Medvedev
18y 1m 19d – Kei Nishikori
18y 2m 12d – Rafael Nadal
18y 2m 20d – Carlos Alcaraz
18y 5m 7d – Michael Chang
18y 5m 26d – JOAO FONSECA 🏆@ArgentinaOpen pic.twitter.com/ppKkSuURLk— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 16, 2025
There is another version of this chart reflecting tennis history since 2000.
Really ?!? https://t.co/qx7sOz4VRY
— Boris Becker (@TheBorisBecker) February 16, 2025
Boris Becker Asks Appropriate Question
In response to Tennis TV and other outlets sharing a list of teenage ATP title winners, Boris Becker asked: “Did you forget about me?”
Why did tennis decide to start the recordkeeping for this stat in 1990? Boris Becker won Wimbledon, a Grand Slam title when he was 17. He won the Queens warmup tournament before that first Wimbledon title in 1985. That is also not reflected anywhere. Even worse, another stat reflects history from 2000 that makes Becker sarcastically question if nothing happened before these years.
With no disrespect to Fonseca, winning the Argentina Open and Wimbledon are very different, and Becker’s achievement should be visible. Tennis needs to figure out how to honor its past champions in the context of its present stars in a fair, respectful way that tells the true story of everyone’s accomplishments.
