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. Matos made his Grand Slam debut at the
2021 Wimbledon Championships with compatriot
Thiago Monteiro where they reached the second round. In February 2022, he 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. At the
2023 Wimbledon, Matos competed in the mixed doubles draw, resuming the partnership with
Luisa Stefani. In their opening match against
Andrea Vavassori and
Liudmila Samsonova, they were defeated 2–1 in sets.
2024: First ATP 500 title At the beginning of the season, Matos started a new partnership with Colombian player
Nicolás Barrientos, which had already been announced at the end of 2023. In their first competition, the
Brisbane International, the duo advanced to the second round (round of 16), where they faced the No. 2 seeds, Dutch player
Jean-Julien Rojer and British player
Lloyd Glasspool, being eliminated in straight sets. In the partnership’s second tournament, the
Adelaide International, Matos and Barrientos defeated the No. 8 seeds, French duo
Edouard Roger-Vasselin and
Nicolas Mahut, in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals, where they faced the No. 2 seeds, Indian player
Rohan Bopanna and Australian player
Matthew Ebden. In this match, they were defeated 2–1 in sets and eliminated from the tournament. After that, Rafael headed straight to
Melbourne to compete in the
Australian Open, again partnering with Barrientos. Upon arriving in Melbourne, Matos received news that the
Australian Open organizers had granted a
wild card to
Luisa Stefani and him, giving them the opportunity to defend their mixed doubles title won in 2023, even though Matos’s ranking was not high enough to compete alongside Stefani. In the mixed doubles draw, Stefani and Matos faced British players
Joe Salisbury—who partnered with Stefani at the
2023 US Open—and
Heather Watson in the first round but were defeated in straight sets, ending their participation in the
2024 Australian Open without successfully defending their mixed doubles title. Matos partnership with
Nicolás Barrientos started to produce good results. At the ATP 250 in
Buenos Aires, they reached the semifinals. 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. By doing so, Matos became the first Brazilian in the tournament’s ten-year history to win a trophy, in either singles or doubles. In July, Matos won his ninth ATP title with
Orlando Luz at the
2024 Swedish Open.
2025: Defended Rio title with Melo Matos began his 2025 season competing in the
United Cup, representing Brazil. In the tournament's first tie, Brazil faced China. Matos and
Carolina Meligeni Alves teamed up for the mixed doubles match, but they were defeated, contributing to a clean sweep by the Chinese team in that tie. Matos and the Brazilians could not defeat China in the United Cup. This kept Brazil in difficult contention for the tournament. The defeats from Meligeni/Matos in mixed doubles and earlier from their teammates
Beatriz Haddad Maia and
Thiago Monteiro in singles matches complicated Brazil's chances of advancing further in the United Cup. The Brazilian team's struggles continued in the United Cup, as Carolina Meligeni and Rafael Matos were defeated once again in the mixed doubles match during their final tie, this time against Germany. Despite their efforts, the Brazilian team was unable to secure a single victory in the tournament, finishing their campaign without advancing past the group stage. Matos won his tenth title overall and second at his home tournament, the
2025 Rio Open, where he was the defending champion, with compatriot
Marcelo Melo. Matos became the fourth man to win multiple Rio doubles titles and the first to successfully defend the title. ==Performance timeline==