Best ATP Tour comebacks of 2025: Alex De Minaur and Joao Fonseca on season-defining escape | ATP Tour

ATP Tour

ATP Tour Comebacks of 2025: De Minaur, Fonseca among season-defining ones

Kecmanovic, Zverev and Brooksby all saved match points

December 5, 2025

To mark the end of another exciting season, ATPTour.com presents our annual “Best of” series, which will reflect the most interesting rivalries, games, comebacks, upsets and more. Today we highlight five standout ATP Tour comebacks this season (excluding Grand Slams).

Each return tells a story of resilience, timing, belief and drive. In 2025, the ATP Tour is filled with moments where players turn games, tournaments, and even seasons on their head with gutsy performances in the biggest moments.

5) Delrebic forward: Kekmanovic d. Davidovich Fokina 3-6, 6-1, 7-5
Miomir Kekmanovic’s five-year title drought ended in stunning fashion at the Delray Beach Open, and he showed his fighting spirit in the process.

Facing Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s 2-5, 15/40 deficit in the final, Kekmanovic, like his Spanish counterpart, used gritty defense and heartbreaking touches to save two championship points in a row. The second ball was a volley that broke the net cord and ultimately won.

Since then, Kekmanović has achieved good results in the last five games, including a 5-5 victory, locking in his second ATP Tour title and his first title since 2020. To add to his fairytale performance, the Serbian teamed up with Brandon Nakajima to win the Tag Team Championship later in the day.

4) Paris QF: Zverev d. Medvedev 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5)
Alexander Zverev may have fallen further behind against his greatest Lexus ATP head-to-head rival in recent years, Daniil Medvedev, but he still came back victorious in memorable fashion at the Rolex Paris Masters.

Zverev lost to Medvedev for the sixth consecutive time in the deciding set, 4-5 on serve, and rediscovered his game: a powerful first serve, forward thinking and unshakeable courage. The German fended off the first match point with an unreturned first serve, then controlled the second with a fierce backhand before sealing victory in a fiery tie-break, his first win over Medvedev since Cincinnati in 2023.

Despite still trailing 8-14 in the long-running Lexus ATP Head2Head series, Zverev scored a redemptive victory: the PIF ATP No. 3 player played the way he knows how.

“Daniel is my kryptonite, I don’t like playing against him,” Zverev said. “He’s the one who has had my number for the last few years. What I’m most happy about is that I saved the match point and I continued to be brave and in the big moments, I won the game myself.”

3) Houston: Brooksby excels on his way to first ATP Tour title
Winning your first ATP Tour title is always special, but for Jenson Brooksby it comes after more near-quitting experiences than most.

At the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston, the American held on to match points in three different matches to capture his first tour-level crown on clay. Brooksby saved one goal in the first qualifying round, two goals in the second round against third-seeded Alejandro Tabilo, and one goal in the semifinals against top-seeded Tommy Paul.

Ironically, the 24-year-old defeated 2023 Houston champion Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 6-2 in the championship game in one of the most comprehensive wins of all.

“In general, I’m just a guy who hates losing and loves winning – obviously tennis is the most important, but even in other competitions, I think that’s just the way I am as a person,” Brooksby told ATPTour.com. “I really like winning, so when I’m in a tough spot, and maybe you’re supposed to lose in those situations, sometimes I can at least find a way out of it.”

Jason Brooksby” style=”width:100%;” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2025/11/20/15/26/brooksby-houston-2025-tropy-lift.jpg”>_{^{Jenson Brooksby wins his first ATP Tour title in Houston. Photo: Andrew Weavers}}

2) Buenos Aires QF: Fonseca D. Navone 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
Joao Fonseca arrived on the ATP Tour fueled by teenage hype and the kind of raw, relentless energy that makes you lean forward in your seat, but Buenos Aires is where that buzz meets title-winning substance.

The Brazilian recorded one of the most mature victories of his fledgling career in a raucous quarter-final against local favorite Mariano Navone at the IEB+ Argentina Open. Fonseca recovered from two breaks in the second set to force the match into a decider, where he once again bounced back from the abyss of defeat.

With the score 3-5, 15/40, the then 18-year-old saved two match points in a row – the second a backhand winner – to turn the game around and win four straight games to reach the semifinals. Two days later, he defeated another Argentinian, Francisco Cerundolo, in the final, becoming the youngest South American to win a tour-level title in the ATP Tour era (since 1990).

“These are the wins we strive for,” Fonseca said after the quarterfinal win. “I didn’t play my best and I fought until the end. From the beginning I believed I could win, even though I didn’t play my best, but I fought and now I’m in the semi-finals.”

1) Washington F: De Minaur D. Davidovich Fokina 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(3)
If comebacks define character, then Alex De Minaur’s Championship victory at the Mubadala Citi Washington Open in Washington was purely a reflection of the Australian’s resilience on the court.

The Australian, facing his 10th title, battled with Davidovich Fokina for three championship points in a thrilling final, one so tight that he came within 16mm of defeat. But a desperate lob hit the sideline and he didn’t look back.

When Davidovich Fokina tried to serve at 5-3, 30/0, De Minaur was already fighting back. He then saved all three championship points in a 10-minute, draw-filled rematch that led to a tiebreak and provided more late heartbreak for Davidovich Fokina, who suffered his third defeat at that stage of the 2025 tournament.

“I just backed myself and I told myself to commit no matter what, and if I lose this fight, that’s what I want,” De Minaur said. “Today it went my way. I’ve met some cruel people and it didn’t go my way, so I’m glad this time it went my way.”