Qualifier and world No.200 Henrique Rocha builds hopes back home in Grand Slam debut
© Photo : Clement Mahoudeau / FFTWhen Henrique Rocha strikes a bit of downtime back home in Porto, there’s every chance he could be found in a cafe with friends poring over the hand he’s been dealt playing rounds of his favourite card game.
Until this week, it was something the 21-year-old could do without too much threat of any fanfare from others stopping by for their caffeine fix.
That could all be about to change should Rocha’s charmed run at Roland-Garros extend into the second week.
“When I get the chance, I love to hang out with my friends in the coffee (shop), play some cards, we love playing cards,” Rocha told rolandgarros.com after booking a berth in the third round on his Grand Slam debut. “We play Up and Down – if we translate, in Portuguese it’s sobe e desce. It's like a famous Portuguese game.”
Patience and strategy – keys for any good cards enthusiast – are skills Rocha has in spades, both of which have been on full display throughout his breakout Slam main draw tilt.
In the final round of qualifying last week, French opponent Luca Van Assche served for the match only for his opponent to defy the home crowd and create his own slice of history.
It would not be 200th-ranked Rocha’s last great escape in Paris.
Far from overawed when he stepped up to the big stage, he toppled Georgian former world No.16 Nikoloz Basilashvili in five sets and backed it up from two sets down, no less, to stun 19th seed Jakub Mensik – the Miami Masters champion.
©Clément Mahoudeau / FFT“I mean it's crazy that the first tournament I play main draw I'm doing two times fifth set but the good part is I feel good physically and I mean all the work that I do it's working out very well so I'm very proud that I came out of this great match,” said Rocha, who broke into an arms-warming post-match celebration following the second round result.
“It's a thing that I do with my friends back at home when we're watching football matches or tennis matches meaning 'oh that's so cold’ (as in ‘that’s so cool’). In the moment I just felt like it was the right celebration and it came out very well.”
Having sprung a colossal upset of Casper Ruud for his first top 10 win in the Norwegian’s back yard in a Davis Cup tie last September, Rocha confirmed what many back home already suspected – this kid was poised for something bigger.
While seven years his junior, Rocha grew up practising with now world No.41 Nuno Borges before Borges took the US college route, while Portugal’s retired former world No.28 Joao Sousa was his benchmark.
“I mean Joao was always my reference and my idol in Portugal,” he said. “When I was growing up he was at his best and now he's one of my friends and he helps me actually a lot. I see myself a lot in him and see myself a lot in his fighting spirits.
“Nuno I grew up actually practising with him sometimes in the club, so it's a nice story between us. We're very, very good friends.”
This week Rocha and Borges became the first Portuguese to reach the third round at the same Slam. While Borges was unable to back up his upset of seventh seed Ruud against Alexei Popyrin, Rocha will have his shot at a fourth-round berth when he meets Alexander Bublik on Saturday.
Front and centre of Rocha’s support crew will be his brother, fellow player Francisco, who’s been there every step of the way.
“He's been here for the last week. It's the person that I love the most,” he said. “I feel like he's always there for me and I'm always there for him. When I was having this tough time he was always there for me and I mean having his hug in the end of the match was the most important thing.”
©Clément Mahoudeau / FFTPortuguese tennis journalist for Racquetc Gaspar Ribeiro Lanca said in a football-obsessed nation, tennis barely rated a mention.
Portugal’s three sports newspapers were saturated front to back with football coverage and he said he could count on one hand the number of times a tennis player hit the front page.
“One of the times was when Joao (Sousa) won a title, another was when Michelle Larcher de Brito beat Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon (2013), but this is a football country,” Ribeiro Lanca said.
“If it's anywhere outside a tennis club Henrique’s not famous in Portugal. I imagine it's turning into a big thing now though because it's more or less the same that happened in January with Jaime Faria, who reached the second round in Australia and played against Novak (Djokovic) and won a set.
“Henrique is actually the first Portuguese man to win five matches at a Slam (including qualifying), so I think the feedback has been great. He’s certainly becoming more famous around the country.”
Those front pages will soon need to make space for Rocha should he continue his climb in Paris.
He’d best enjoy playing cards with relative anonymity at his favourite cafe while it lasts.
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
