Fonseca, Auger-Aliassime land in same half of Estoril Challenger draw

Can #NextGenATP star Joao Fonseca stay perfect at ATP Challenger Tour level this season?

The 18-year-old, unbeaten across his two Challenger appearances this year, will chase another trophy at this week’s Millennium Estoril Open. Fonseca is seeded eighth and in a loaded top half that features top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, fourth seed Marcos Giron, seventh seed Nicolas Jarry and #NextGenATP Learner Tien.

Fonseca, who faces Jesper de Jong in the Estoril opening round, is in Giron’s quarter. The Brazilian has tallied a 23-6 season record across all levels and arrives in Portugal following a second-round exit in Madrid, where he fell to 11th seed Tommy Paul.

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Read More about Fonseca's first-round opponent: How De Jong's journey to Top 100 is a tribute to his late grandfather

Fonseca began the year by triumphing at the Canberra Challenger and last month he won the Arizona Tennis Classic, one of six tournaments at 175 level, which are held during the second week of select ATP Masters 1000 events. Fonseca defeated Alexander Bublik in the Phoenix final, improving to 10-0 at Challenger level in 2025.

The wild card Auger-Aliassime, No. 27 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, has a first-round bye. He will start against American Ethan Quinn or Serbian Dusan Lajovic. Among those in the Canadian’s quarter include seventh seed Jarry and 19-year-old Tien.

Second seed Alex Michelsen headlines the bottom half of the draw. Seeded players in Michelsen’s half include Nuno Borges, Miomir Kecmanovic and Pedro Martinez.

Popyrin leads Aix-en-Provence
Top seed Alexei Popyrin could face former No. 3 Stan Wawrinka in his opening match at the Open Aix Provence Crédit Agricole. Popyrin receives a bye while Wawrinka faces home hope Ugo Blanchet in the first round.

#NextGenATP American Nishesh Basavareddy and Italian Mattia Bellucci are also in Popyrin’s quarter. Last year’s finalist Jaume Munar is seeded to meet Popyrin in the semi-finals.

The bottom half of the draw features second seed Luciano Darderi, third seed Quentin Halys and former No. 12 Borna Coric. The Croatian is one of two players to have claimed three Challenger trophies this season, alongside Emilio Nava.

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