When is the right time to get your hopes up about a future tennis player?
People caught a glimpse of Carlos Alcaraz’s future when he was 10, the age when Babolat and other big racket companies sometimes began shipping equipment and worshiping him. At Les Petit As in France, France’s premier under-14 tournament, any prospect collecting games, kits and matches will, unless there is a signed contract, be sent to an agent within earshot of their parents.
By these measures, trusting Joao Fonseca, a calm Brazilian teenager with wavy blonde hair who travels at 225 km/h, seems like a very conservative bet.
Some more numbers. At 18, he is the youngest player to qualify for the ATP Next Gen Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, an event for top-ranked men aged 20 and under. And at 6 feet 1 inch (185 cm), Fonseca is in the Goldilocks zone (not too tall, not too short) among the players who have won the most Grand Slams of the last decade.
Fonseca grew up idolizing Roger Federer, which is part of the reason he has a large stake in Federer, the Swiss sports manufacturer that is his main sponsor. The Rio native signed Fonseca two years ago, when he was barely 16 years old. .
“They said it was going to be me, Iga (Swiatek) and Ben Shelton,” Fonseca recalled in an interview last month. – Of course, I said yes.
Perhaps Fonseca’s business acumen was as precocious as his tennis prowess. Two years ago, On’s share price was $17.36. Now about $55. Your contract allows you to travel with a full-time physical therapist; He also hit the practice court with Shelton, 22, who competed in the same tournament.
When they met for the first time, at the 2023 Mallorca Championships, Shelton realized that Fonseca was the new kid on Team On and offered to train the next day.
“I’m nothing and you want to train with me?” Fonseca said.
go deeper
Ben Shelton: “I didn’t want to be one of the 50 Nike guys”
It was nothing then and it is nothing now. He won the US Open junior title in September 2023, a season in which he became the first player from Brazil to be ranked number one in the junior rankings. In February, he defeated Arthur Fils 6-0, 6-4 in the first round of the Rio Open. At the time, the loss appeared to be a major setback for the Phillies, who are currently ranked 20th in the world and are favorites for the Next Gen tournament, which begins today. They faced each other in the last game of the first day. Fonseca defeated Fils in another best-of-four set before serving as a veteran in the final set in sudden death.
That first loss in Brazil was even sweeter for the Phillies. Fonseca started the world rankings at No. 727. He is currently No. 145 and is a few games away from his first Grand Slam main draw in New York in August, three games behind him against Eliot Spizzirri, four years his senior. in the last qualifying round.
Joao Fonseca in full flight in Rio de Janeiro. (Wang Tiancong/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Given Fonseca’s great serve, his easy power in the baseline and his shyness on and off the court, the obvious comparison with the best player is world No. 1, Giannick Sinner. Fonseca hums like a midfielder, ready to whip his opponent to the core while leaning back on his front axle or perhaps with both hands on the line. You can also change the device.
At the Madrid Open, Fonseca faced American Alex Michelsen, another under-20 competitor. Dominating rallies in the middle of the court, Fonseca began throwing balls through the middle and asked Michelsen to create angles and hit anything short into the corners. Michelsen did not pass the test: Fonseca served him a 6-0 roscón to tie the match and win the third set.
“He is a player who plays better under a lot of pressure and has the ability to adapt quickly to different situations,” his coach Guillerme Teixeira wrote in an email. Teixeira has been working independently since he was 11 years old; Fonseca’s mother, Roberta, has been watching him play even longer.
Roberta, who also answered questions by email, said she had never seen her son so nervous before a tennis match. He remembers that when he was eight or nine years old he was hit because he kept playing balls that came back into play. He was very sad to leave the court, but as soon as he saw his mother he began to beg her to sign him up for another tournament.
None of this, including qualifying for the Next Gen Finals, guarantees anything. Alcaraz and Sinner won the climb up the tennis mountain, but the tournament also featured younger versions of Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz and Kasper Ruud, all Grand Slam finalists, but only one of them. , the winner to date. Medvedev won the US Open in 2021. Most of the legendary eight at the end of each season have never come close.
go deeper
Daniil Medvedev is the enigma of men’s tennis… and it’s taking him a while.
Fonseca joins the French Phils and Luca Van Assche on this year’s team; Michelsen, researcher Tien and American Nishesh Basavareddy; Jakub Mensik from the Czech Republic and Shang Juncheng from China, who also uses his American name Jerry Shang.
It’s hard to know if there are any Grand Slam finalists in this group, especially in tennis. Children with “rebellions and freckles” may be fine in “Les Petits,” but it is much safer to take a cautious approach to adolescent tumult. Since three-time French Open champion and world number one Gustavo ‘Guga’ Kuerten, Brazil has been missing a top-level men’s tennis player.
For decades, players from the country and the rest of South America had to grow up almost exclusively on red clay. South Americans have more difficulties than red clay players like Spain because they have to travel distances to find different playing fields and opponents. Unsurprisingly, young people gravitate towards more relaxed football, before talking about the influence of World Cup trophies, Ronaldo Nazario and Neymar. To play tennis in Brazil, you basically have to be a member of a private club.
Joao Fonseca has already represented Brazil in the Davis Cup. (Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images for the ITF)
Fonseca remembers the first time he traveled to Europe to compete when he was 13 years old. He played on an outdoor court in Germany with a beautiful view. The tennis balls turned out to be free and unlimited.
“You have more support in Europe,” he said.
He was lucky to be born into a family with athletic parents. His mother flirted with professional volleyball. As a teenager, she ran half marathons, road and mountain biking, and adventure racing with her husband, who competed in junior tennis in Brazil.
“Sport runs through our veins,” says Roberta.
Joao played almost everything he was offered, including soccer, volleyball, swimming, judo, skateboarding, surfing and skiing, as well as tennis. His mother said he was great at everything.
At the age of six he scored all the goals in his academy’s soccer tournaments, in addition to being a defender. He was able to swim all four strokes from a young age and his club swim made him a competitive team player. He earned his purple belt in judo at age 10.
Teixeira noticed his tennis potential when he first saw him when he was 11 years old. The quality of his shots, his pure connection with the ball was far ahead of kids his age, but he noticed something else. The victories did not excite him much and the defeats did not bother him.
“On tour, you have to compete, train and manage your emotions week in and week out,” Teixeira said. “Just pull yourself together and start again.”
Last year was Fonseca’s first as a professional and Teixeira saw his dedication. For the first time, he treats tennis as a career and takes training and gymnastics classes with what Teixeira describes as a new level of seriousness.
This is a typical training day schedule for him, starting with muscle testing to determine how hard he will go that day:
- 8:30 am: Testing
- 9:00: Physiotherapy and warm-up.
- 10:00: Gym
- 11:00 am: Practice on the court
- 1:00 p.m.: lunch and rest
- 3:00 p.m.: In court
- 16:30: Gym
- 17:30: Physiotherapy if necessary
Teixeira said Fonseca is also paying more attention to his rest and what he eats. He diligently practices breathing exercises that help him stay calm during the game. Improving his footwork is on the agenda for 2025.
Fonseca is still a teenager. You can spend a month or more away from home before fatigue and homesickness sets in. This season, he tried to play tournaments for four or five weeks, train for a few weeks and then come home and see friends and family.
Joao Fonseca reacts after winning the 2023 US Open men’s singles title. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
He is still a junior tennis player. His biggest challenge is consistency: figuring out how to win when he’s not at his best. In junior tennis, the best player, the one with the best technique and the best shots, usually wins the tournament. He doesn’t shake like that during serious things.
“There are many players who can find solutions on the Pro Tour, and those who find more solutions during the tournaments, during the weeks, do well,” Fonseca said. He was 7-7 in ATP matches this year; Not bad for an 18 year old. Sinner was 11-10 in 2019 when he turned 18.
Fonseca has time, but he is worried about some things because he is impatient, especially the red clay and the slow courts. Instead, he wants grass to be the best surface one day.
“I love Wimbledon,” he said, “I want to be like Sinner or (Novak) Djokovic.” Guys who play well on any surface.”
(Image above: activated)
