RIO DE JANEIRO/WASHINGTON, February 20, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
As the only Brazilian to advance to the second round of this year’s Rio Open presented by Claro, 19-year-old No. 3 seed Joao Fonseca entered play on Thursday as the highest seed remaining in the draw. He’s also been the main focus for so many South American fans attending this ATP 500 event on red clay in one of the most visited cities in the Southern Hemisphere.
While the draw for this ATP 500 event on red clay has been characterized by a slew of upsets, including World No. 19 and top seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina – who was forced to retire from his second-round match Wednesday evening due to an injury – on Thursday it was characterized by rain. There were two different delays, which backed up the start of the night session at Jockey Club Brasileiro by two hours.
Fonseca, who came into his second-round match against 91st-ranked Ignacio Buse of Peru on a six-match winning streak at ATP 500 level after lifting Basel title in October, aimed to join Carlos Alcaraz as the only teenagers to reach multiple Rio quarterfinals in tournament history. Standing in his was Buse, who came in having won nine of his 10 tour-level matches on clay and looked to reach his second ATP Tour quarterfinal – and that’s what the 21-year-old Peruvian did.
Buse rallied from a set down to beat Fonseca, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, in two hours and 26 minutes – and broke the hearts of Brazilians who filled Quadra Guga Kuerten.
Ignacio Buse derruba João Fonseca de virada com 5/7 6/3 6/4 no placar
Ele enfrenta o vencedor de Berrettini x Lajovic nas quartas de final!#RioOpen pic.twitter.com/DN8m4v1NXU
— Rio Open (@RioOpenOficial) February 20, 2026
To his credit, Buse, who fired his eighth ace on match point and finished with 30 winners, was the better player overall. He kept a pretty level head throughout and withstood 36 winners from Fonseca. He outpointed the Brazilian star 96-90.
“Today was a very difficult match. We all know Joao has a lot of potential,” Buse said during his on-court interview. “He’s the present and future of Brazilian tennis. He’s really a star. We’re really close friends. So it was hard today. He was so very lucky to have the Brazilian crowd here today. The Brazilians are so very passionate – not only in [tennis] but in everything. I hope we can have many more battles in the future.”
Ignacio Buse’s coming of age!
The 21-year-old Peruvian upsets No.3 seed Fonseca on away soil, 5-7 6-3 6-4.@RioOpenOficial pic.twitter.com/eQ9r70Rfyv
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 20, 2026
Meanwhile, in the first match of the day on Quadra Guga Kuerten before the rain wreaked havoc on the order of play, the only other remaining seed in the draw, No. 8 Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina, defeated 126th-ranked Lithuanian qualifier Vilius Gaubas, 7-6 (1), 6-4, in two hours and seven minutes that was interrupted once by rain. The delay lasted for approximately 45 minutes, when Etcheverry was only three points from victory.
However, Etcheverry rode out the rain interruption and reached his 20th tour-level last eight – his 15th on clay – with his eighth victory of the season. He’s the 14th Argentine to reach the quarterfinal stage in Rio, while Gaubas was looking to advance to his first ATP Tour quarterfinal and become the second from his country to achieve this feat after 23-time ATP Tour quarterfinalist Ricardas Berankis.
Mais cedo, o cabeça de chave 8 Tomas Etcheverry venceu a chuva e um match point dramático pra chegar a sua 20ª quartas de final em nível ATP ♂️#RioOpenpic.twitter.com/NpQTp9I5iS
— Rio Open (@RioOpenOficial) February 19, 2026
“Last week I did semifinals in Buenos Aires and this week quarterfinals here. That’s a lot of points,” Etcheverry said during his on-court interview after improving to 8-4 this season. “I want to go higher in the rankings. I’m looking forward to tomorrow because I know the semifinals are a lot of points. I want to win.”
Next, Etcheverry will 147th-ranked lucky loser Jaime Faria of Portugal, who defeated No. 62 Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina, 7-6 (1), 6-4, in two hours and three minutes on Quadra 1. Faria outpointed Dzumhur 76-64. Earlier this week, Faria defeated two-time defending champion Sebastian Baez of Argentina, ranked 32nd, for the biggest win of his career. Now, he’s into his third ATP Tour quarterfinal after having reached back-to-back quarterfinals in Rio and Santiago last year.
Depois da chuva, Etcheverry fecha o jogo na Quadra Guga Kuerten com 7/6 (1) 6/4 contra Gaubas e está nas quartas de final
O argentino agora enfrenta Faria!#RioOpen pic.twitter.com/v9gbAhsfqW
— Rio Open (@RioOpenOficial) February 19, 2026
Also, No. 57 Matteo Berrettini of Italy looked to reach his first ATP Tour quarterfinal on clay since winning his last title in 2024 at Kitzbuhel. He faced 129th-ranked lucky loser Dusan Lajovic of Serbia, aiming to reach his third Rio quarterfinal in the last four editions, in a match moved from Quadra Guga Kuerten to Quadra 1 due to earlier rain delays.
Lajovic, the only player to feature in the main draw of all 12 Rio editions and one of four lucky losers in this year’s main draw, gave the Roman all he could handle. By the end of the two-hour, nine-minute skirmish, Berrettini pulled through, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, in back of 28 winners to advance to Friday’s quarterfinals against Buse.
Berrettini DE VIRADA sobre Lajovic com 3/6 6/4 6/2 no placar
Ele enfrenta Buse nas quartas de final!#RioOpen pic.twitter.com/W9zByBEqv9
— Rio Open (@RioOpenOficial) February 20, 2026
Around the Jockey Club Brasileiro
In doubles, Germany’s Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner fought past Brazilian lucky losers Gustavo Heide and Luis Miguel, 7-5, 5-7, 11-9, in one hour and 49 minutes on Quadra 2 Thursday evening to move into the semifinal round against Brazil’s Joao Fonseca and Marcelo Melo.
Schnaitter/Wallner avançam às semis com o placar de 7/5 5/7 11-9 pra cima da dupla Gustavo Heide/Guto Miguel
Os alemães enfrentam Melo/Fonseca na semifinal!#RioOpen pic.twitter.com/XCW3TJ9aKY
— Rio Open (@RioOpenOficial) February 20, 2026
Two other quarterfinal-round doubles matches were rescheduled to Friday due to rain delays that back up play on outer courts Thursday. Top seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul of France will face Constantin Frantzen of Germany and Robin Haase of the Netherlands, followed by No. 3 seeds Guido Andreozzi of Argentina and Manuel Guinard of France against wild cards Felipe Meligeni Alves and Marcelo Zormann.
Friday’s Rio Open order of play
By the numbers
Dusan Lajovic of Serbia is the only player who has appeared in all 12 editions of the Rio Open. His best result has been a quarterfinal finish in both 2023 and 2024. Both Thiago Monteiro of Brazil and Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain have appeared 10 times.
“Quotable …”
“Yes, of course, it was a tough moment because of the rain delays, you know. I was 5-3 and serving for the match and, then, with the rain, the court was more slow. I’m super proud that I got a victory today. I’m looking forward to the quarterfinals. I’m super happy to be here.”
– No. 8 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina, during his on-court interview after advancing to his 20th career ATP Tour quarterfinal.
