Brazil’s Joao Fonseca, one of the two US$50,000 grant recipients, became the youngest Brazilian player in the Open Era to win an ATP title at Buenos Aires, aged 18 years, five months and 26 days. Fonseca also announced himself on the Grand Slam stage by defeating world No. 9 Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open in straight sets.
Côte d’Ivoire’s Eliakim Coulibaly, 23, made history as the first player from the West African country to win an ATP Challenger event, while Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez, became the youngest Mexican to win a Tour-level match since 1996, at age 19. Hong Kong, China’s Coleman Wong, 21, also delivered a milestone moment by becoming the first player from his nation to defeat a Top 20 opponent, overcoming Ben Shelton at the Miami Open.
On the women’s side, Alexandra Eala, 20, of the Philippines made history by defeating three Grand Slam champions, contesting her first WTA final and breaking into the Top 60 – the first Filipina to achieve each milestone. Argentina’s Solana Sierra, 21, added her own breakthrough by becoming the first lucky loser to reach Round of 16 at Wimbledon 2025.
Progress has also been reflected in the rankings. Six 2025 grant recipients have entered the Top 100 this season – with Joao Fonseca (BRA), Hamad Medjedovic (SRB), and Jaime Faria (POR) in the ATP Rankings – and Alexandra Eala (PHI), Anca Todoni (ROU) and Solana Sierra (ARG) in the WTA Rankings, underlining the programme’s objective to help players from developing tennis nations break into the elite level.
At junior level, two players from the 2025 cohort of grant recipients have won Grand Slam singles titles: Bulgaria’s Ivan Ivanov, 16, won the boys’ singles title at Wimbledon and climbed to world No.1 in the ITF junior rankings, while Austria’s Lilli Tagger, 17, won the girls’ singles title at Roland-Garros. The GSPDP also funds junior touring teams, enabling players from developing tennis nations to play at the junior Grand Slam tournaments and other elite-level junior events. Touring team member Oskari Paldanius, 18, of Finland, won the boys’ doubles title at both Roland-Garros and Wimbledon alongside partner Alan Wazny, 18, of Poland. The ITF has published a short film documenting Paldanius’ experiences at the J300 Roehampton tournament, held prior to Wimbledon, this week. Watch video here.