Rafael Matos

Rafael Fabris de Matos (born 6 January 1996) is a Brazilian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of No. 26 achieved on 6 February 2023. He also has a career high ATP singles ranking of No. 440 achieved on 21 May 2018. He won the mixed doubles at the 2023 Australian Open with compatriot Luisa Stefani, becoming the first Brazilian pair to win a Grand Slam.

2019–20: ATP debut
Matos made his ATP main draw debut at the 2019 Brasil Open in the doubles draw partnering Igor Marcondes.

At the 2020 Rio Open, Matos alongside Orlando Luz defeated the 2019 Wimbledon and 2019 US Open champions, and ATP doubles World No. 1, Juan Sebastián Cabal and Robert Farah 6–1, 4–6, [10–8].

2021–22: Major debut & first win & quarterfinal, Six titles & top 30 debut
In February 2021, Matos won his first ATP Tour doubles title alongside Felipe Meligeni Alves at the ATP 250 Córdoba Open defeating Romain Arneodo and Benoît Paire. He reached the top 100 in doubles on 3 May 2021 at World No. 99.

He made his Grand Slam debut at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships with compatriot Thiago Monteiro where they reached the second round.

In February 2022, Matos won his second ATP 250 doubles title at the 2022 Chile Open alongside Meligeni Alves.

In April 2022, Matos won his third ATP 250 doubles title at the 2022 Grand Prix Hassan II alongside Spaniard David Vega Hernández. At the 2022 BMW Open he reached his second final with Vega Hernández and fifth overall.

At the 2022 French Open on his debut at this Major, the pair reached the third round with a win over Łukasz Kubot and Édouard Roger-Vasselin but not before defeating 13th seeded pair of Santiago González and Andrés Molteni. They reached the quarterfinals where they lost to 12th seeded pair of Marcelo Arévalo and Jean-Julien Rojer. As a result, he made his debut in the top 50 in the rankings at world No. 43 on 6 June 2022.

Matos reached the top 30 on 31 October 2022 following a fifth title for the season at the 2022 Sofia Open and a final showing at the ATP 500 2022 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships with Vega Hernández. He ended 2022 with six ATP career titles, and having reached world No. 27 in the doubles rankings on 14 November 2022.

2023: Historic Major mixed doubles title
Playing in mixed doubles of the 2023 Australian Open with fellow Brazilian Luisa Stefani, they won the first Grand Slam title for Brazil, an unprecedented feat both as a 100% Brazilian duo and individually.

Throughout 2023, Matos' best results in doubles were: a third round at Roland Garros and runner-up at the ATP 250 in Bastad and Chengdu with Francisco Cabral, a semifinal at the ATP 250 in Córdoba with Vega Hernández,  and quarterfinals at the ATP 500 in Acapulco, Barcelona and Halle.

2024: First ATP 500 title
In 2024, Matos began a partnership with Nicolás Barrientos which started to produce good results. At the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires, they reached the semifinals, and in the following ATP 500 tournament in Rio de Janeiro, they won their biggest title, defeating strong pairs such as Krawietz/Putz, Bolelli/Vavassori and Erler/Miedler in the final.

Performance timeline
Current through the 2024 Italian Open.

Davis Cup
Matos was first nominated to play for Brazil in Davis Cup in September 2021 against Lebanon in doubles. Matos alongside Marcelo Demoliner made his debut in Davis Cup against Benjamin Hassan and Habib Hady and won in three sets at the third rubber of that tie. Later, the Brazilian team confirmed the 4–0 tie and advanced into the 2022 Davis Cup qualifying round. Currently, Matos sports a 3–0 record in Davis Cup matches. He has played only doubles matches thus far.