Tennis: From Joao Fonseca to Alexandra Eala - 10 rising tennis stars to watch out for at Roland-Garros 2025

Roland-Garros 2025: Rising tennis stars to watch

Alexandra Eala (PHI) Age: 19 Rank: 69

For tennis superfans, Eala has been a name to know for a few years, having claimed the girls' junior title at the US Open in 2022. Earlier this year, she made international headlines with her run to the Miami Open semi-finals, with straight-set wins over Grand Slam winners Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek.

Eala plays a hard-hitting brand of tennis, but the left-hander also arrives at nearly every match with "home court advantage:" A sizeable, passionate Filipino fan base greeting her with support as she creates history for the Philippines as its most successful female tennis player ever already in her young career.

Also in Eala's corner: Rafael Nadal, the recently retired tennis legend. Eala has trained at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain since the age of 12. Oh, and doubles with Coco Gauff? Eala and the U.S. star teamed up to make the quarter-finals earlier this month in Rome.

Joao Fonseca (BRA) Age: 18 Rank: 65

While Eala has brought the energetic fans from the Philippines, the 18-year-old Fonseca has done the same with the Brazilian contingent, who also seem to show up wherever he goes.

Fonseca was ranked outside the world's top 200 just as recently as last July, but claimed the season-ending Next Gen ATP Finals title (a tournament for players 21 years old and under), before winning an ATP Challenger (one level below the main tour) to start 2025, and then claiming the biggest win of his career in the first round of the Australian Open: A three-set stunner over world No.9 Andrey Rublev.

Fonseca plays with lightning pace off his groundstrokes, too, particularly a lethal forehand side. He's been lauded for his mental game at a young age, and was greeted with a hero's welcome at the ATP event in Rio de Janeiro in February, where gymnastics legend Rebeca Andrade said hello.

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