When is the right moment to place your hopes on an up-and-coming tennis player?
People had a vision of Carlos Alcaraz’s future when he was 10 years old. Around that age, Babolat and other large racket companies began giving away equipment and swag from time to time. Any prospect preparing to play, set and play at France’s Les Petit As, the premier tournament for under-14s, will already have an agent in the ears of their parents, even if they don’t have a signed contract.
By those standards, it’s quite conservative to have faith in Joao Fonseca, an easy-going Brazilian teenager with light wavy hair who can already hit serves at speeds of 140 miles per hour (225 kilometers per hour). Looks like a bet.
More numbers. At 18, he is the youngest player to participate in the ATP Next Gen Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This competition is for the highest ranked male players under the age of 20. And at 6ft 1in (185cm), Fonseca is in the Goldilocks zone of not too big, not too small, among players who have won most Grand Slams in the past decade.
Fonseca grew up idolizing Roger Federer, which is one of the reasons why his main sponsor is On, the Swiss sports manufacturer in which Federer has a significant stake. On signed Fonseca from Rio de Janeiro two years ago when he was 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 is as precocious as his tennis talent. On’s stock price was $17.36 two years ago. It’s about $55 now. His contract allows him to travel full-time with his physiotherapist. He also stood on the practice court with Shelton, 22, when they competed in the same tournament.
When they first met at the 2023 Mallorca Championships, Shelton noticed that Fonseca was new to the On team and suggested they practice the next day.
“I was like, ‘I’m nobody, would you like to practice with me?’” Fonseca said.
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He was nothing then and he certainly isn’t now. He won the US Open Junior title in September 2023, a season in which he became the first Brazilian player to reach the top of the junior rankings. Last February, he defeated Arthur Fils 6-0, 6-4 in the first round of the Rio Open. At the time, the loss seemed like a major setback for Fils, who is currently ranked in the top 20 in the world and was a favorite to win the Next Gen tournament, which began on December 18.
They faced each other in the final match of the first day. Fonseca beat Fils again in a best-of-five game set, breaking sudden death deuce in the final set and serving like a veteran. He then hammered and dominated Tien, but had one error in the third set. He advanced to the semifinals, leaving the group stage behind.
The first defeat in Brazil has grown more palatable for the Fils since it happened. Fonseca started the year ranked 727th in the world. He is currently ranked 145th and lost to Eliot Spizzirri, four years his senior, within a few games of his first Grand Slam main draw in New York this August, three years later. The final qualifying round will be held.
Joao Fonseca in full flight in Rio de Janeiro. (Wang Tiancong / Xinhua via Getty Images)
Given Fonseca’s big serve, easy baseline power and shy demeanor on and off the court, the obvious comparison to the best player is world No. 1 Jannik Sinner. Fonseca hums like a flywheel, ready to push his opponent off his axis when he leans into a forehand or a two-handed backhand down the line. He can also change gears.
At the Madrid Open, Fonseca lost to another rival in the under-20 bracket, American Alex Michelsen. Outmatched on a cross-court forehand rally, Fonseca began marmalising the ball straight into the middle and called on Michelsen to create an angle, pinging everything short into the corner. Michelsen failed the test. Fonseca gave him a 6-0 bagel to level the match and win the third set.
“He is a player who can perform at his best under great pressure and has the ability to adapt quickly to different situations,” his coach Guilherme Teixeira wrote in an email. Teixeira has been in charge of her duties since she was 11 years old. Fonseca’s mother, Roberta, has watched him play for much longer than that.
Roberta, who also answered questions by email, said she had never seen her son nervous before a tennis match. She remembers that when he was 8 or 9, he lost because he kept hitting the ball back into play. He was very upset about leaving the court, but as soon as he saw his mother, he started begging her to sign him up for another tournament.
None of this guarantees anything, including eligibility for the Next Gen Finals. Alcaraz and Sinner both climbed the tennis mountain to win, but the tournament also featured younger versions of Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz and Casper Ruud. All are Grand Slam finalists, but only one of them. , is the winner so far. Medvedev won the 2021 US Open. At the end of each season, many of the eight legendary players have never come close.
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Fonseca is in this year’s line-up along with France’s Fils and Luca Van Assche. Michelsen, Learner Tien, and Nishesh Basavareddy from the United States; Jakub Mensik from the Czech Republic and Shang Juncheng from China go by their American names, Jerry Shang.
It’s hard to say if there are any Grand Slam finalists in that group, especially in tennis. Kids with the swag and attractions in Les Petits As may be fine, but caution in the face of teenage hype is a much safer stance. Brazil has not produced the best male tennis player since three-time French Open winner and former world No. 1 Gustavo ‘Guga’ Kuerten, who started a tennis revolution with his early adoption of polyester strings.
For decades, athletes in this country and the rest of South America had to endure an upbringing almost entirely on red clay. Because of the variety of stadiums and the distances South Americans have to travel to find opponents, it is a much bigger challenge for them than for players from other red clay hubs such as Spain. It’s no surprise that young people tend to gravitate towards the much more accessible game of football before talking about World Cup trophies, Ronaldo Nazario and the influence of Neymar. To play tennis in Brazil, you most likely have to be a member of a private club.
Joao Fonseca has already represented Brazil in the Davis Cup. (Emmanuele Ciancaglini / Getty Images for ITF)
Fonseca remembers traveling to Europe for the first time at age 13 to compete. He played on public courts in Germany with picturesque scenery. Tennis balls appeared free and unlimited.
“There is a lot more help available in Europe,” he said.
He was fortunate to be born into a wealthy family with parents who were passionate about sports. His mother was very interested in professional volleyball. She and her husband, who competed in junior tennis in Brazil as teenagers, have run half marathons and competed in road and mountain cycling and adventure races.
“Sports runs through our veins.” Roberta said.
Joao played every sport they had to offer: soccer, volleyball, swimming, judo, skateboarding, surfing, skiing and tennis. His mother said he excelled at all of them.
By the age of six, he was scoring every goal in his academy’s soccer tournament while also chasing down defense. He could swim all four strokes from an early age, and his swim club promoted him to a competitive team. He earned his purple belt in Judo at age 10.
Teixeira discovered his tennis potential when she first saw him at the age of 11. The quality of his shot and sheer contact with the ball were far ahead of other kids his age and older, but there was something else he noticed. Winning didn’t excite him that much and losing didn’t make him that sad.
“On tour, you have to compete and practice every week and be able to manage your emotions,” Teixeira said. “He resets his mind and starts over.”
Last year, for the first time with Fonseca as a full-fledged professional, Teixeira saw him make such a commitment. He is taking up tennis as his career for the first time and is participating in practices and gym sessions that Teixeira expresses with a new level of seriousness.
This is the person’s typical training schedule, beginning with muscle testing to determine how hard they can work that day.
- 8:30 AM: Testing
- 9 a.m.: Physical therapy and warm-up.
- 10 AM: Gym
- 11 a.m.: Practice on court
- 1:00 PM: Lunch and break
- 3 p.m.: On the court
- 4:30 PM: Gym
- 5:30 p.m.: Physical therapy, if needed.
Teixeira said Fonseca is paying more attention to resting and eating. He diligently does breathing exercises that help him stay calm during games. Improving his footwork is a major agenda item for 2025.
But Fonseca is still a teenager. He can only last a month or so at home before he becomes tired and homesick. This season, he played in tournaments for four or five weeks before returning home to train and see friends and family for a few weeks.
Joao Fonseca expressed his feelings about winning the 2023 US Open men’s singles title. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
He is also still a teenage tennis player. His biggest challenge is consistency. It’s about finding ways to win when you’re not giving your best. In junior tennis, the better player – the player with the best technique and best shot – usually wins the tournament. It doesn’t shake that much in serious situations.
“There are a lot of players on the pro tour who can find solutions, and the players who find more solutions during the tournament have better results over the weeks,” Fonseca said. He has 7 wins and 7 losses 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 in some ways he is impatient. This is especially true for red clay and slow court faithful shakes. Instead, he wants grass to be his best surface one day.
“I love Wimbledon,” he said. “I want to be like Sinner or (Novak) Djokovic. These are people who play well on any surface.”
(Top photo: On)
