João Fonseca surpasses Guga and is the youngest Brazilian in the quarterfinals of a Slam

Brazilian tennis won a historic chapter this Sunday (31). At 19 years, 9 months and 10 days, João Fonseca became the youngest Brazilian in the Open Era to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament. The Rio native, 30th in the world, beat the Norwegian Casper Ruud (16th) by 3 sets to 1, on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

With the result, João surpassed a record that belonged to Gustavo Kuerten, known as Guga, who had reached the quarterfinals of Roland Garros in 1997, at the age of 20, a campaign that ended with the first of his three titles on Parisian clay.

In addition to breaking the precocity record, João also ended a long absence in Brazilian men's tennis. The last time a representative of the country reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam in men's singles was Guga, at Roland Garros in 2004.

The victory
João Fonseca is still alive in search of an unprecedented title at Roland Garros. The Brazilian beat the Norwegian world number 16 Casper Rudd this Sunday (31) by 3 sets to 1. The splits were 7-5, 7-6, 5-7 and 6-2.

With the victory, the 19-year-old secured a place in the quarter-finals of the French Grand Slam. He is in the top eight of a major for the first time in his career.

After achieving the biggest victory of his career, a comeback, in five sets, against Serbian Novak Djokovic, João also encountered difficulties against Rudd. The 27-year-old Norwegian is a clay court specialist and has two Roland-Garros finals to his credit.

In the next phase, João will face Czech Jakub Mensik. The 20-year-old tennis player eliminated world number 13 Andrey Rublev this Sunday by 3 sets to 2.

Source: CNN