By Shrivathsa Sridhar MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Endless queues outside Melbourne Park's 1573 Arena on a sunny Thursday afternoon gave casual fans the impression that a Grand Slam champion was in action, but a quick peek inside revealed the carnival atmosphere and explained the interest.

João Fonseca has definitively introduced himself to the world as the latest teen sensation in men’s tennis by upsetting No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev 7-6 (1), 6-3, 7-6 (5) in the first round of the Australian Open.

Fonseca has long looked like a star-in-waiting. Under pressure in his first Grand Slam set, he delivered beyond those lofty expectations

The 18-year-old produced a stunning first-round victory over world number nine Andrey Rublev in the first round in Melbourne before losing in five sets to Lorenzo Sonego at the next stage

Novak Djokovic sees a bit of himself as a young player in rising teenager Joao Fonseca and particularly welcomed the prospect of a top talent coming out of Brazil.

Fonseca was part of the 2024 lineup alongside Fils and Luca Van Assche of France; Michelsen, eventual finalist Learner Tien and Nishesh Basavareddy of the U.S.; Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic and Shang Juncheng of China, who also goes by his Americanized name, Jerry Shang.

The tennis community raised their eyebrows after watching 18-year-old Brazilian star Joao Fonseca in his first Australian Open. The younger qualifier upset Andrey Rublev, the ninth-ranked player globally,

Melbourne: Carlos Alcaraz tipped giant-killing teenager Joao Fonseca to “really soon” be one of the best players in the world while Novak Djokovic said Wednesday he saw shades of his younger self in the Brazilian.