Before we go too far into this, what should be known is that Joao Fonseca didn't play poorly in his third-round match at Wimbledon 2026 against Roman Safiullin. In fact, the 19-year-old Brazilian played well enough to beat many players, but he couldn't defeat Safiullin.
That's because the No. 132-ranked Russian played what might have been the match of his life. The 28-year-old has never won an ATP event before, but one would not know it from how well he played against Fonseca. Safiullin played so well that if he can keep replicating what he did in the third round, he could shock the tennis world and win Wimbledon.
Each set was tight, though the scores would not imply that. The Russian took both the first two sets 6-3, and while he wasn't overpowering with his serve, he dictated play by landing a decent amount of his first serves. He also played better in bigger points, fighting off all of Fonseca's break point opportunities.
Roman Safiullin defeats Joao Fonseca in the third round of Wimbledon 2026
He did this by doing something that the Brazilian never seemed to adapt to. Safiullin kept hitting serves to Fonseca's body, and after a weak return, the Russian would volley for a winner. It was the perfect example of grass-court tennis.
On any other day, maybe the score would have been reversed, and Joao Fonseca would have won the match, but arguably no one at 2026 Wimbledon has played as well as Roman Safiullin did in the third round. His winners doubled the number of unforced errors he had, and his form never dipped. What he was doing was elite tennis.
Again, though, the young Brazilian wasn't playing poorly. He simply could not match Safiullin's level, and maybe no one else, including players like Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev, could have done so either.
Safiullin has made the quarterfinals of Wimbledon once before (2023), and he is in the kind of form where he could exceed that this year. He was in the proverbial zone throughout the match and took set three 6-32. He finished with 41 winners and only 18 unforced errors.
The Russian will next play the winner of the Novak Djokovic and Arthur Rinderknech match in the fourth round. If Roman Safiullin plays as he did against Joao Fonseca, he might be unbeatable.
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