Joao Fonseca recently achieved what only Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz had previously achieved. There are many indications that the Brazilian will soon be playing with them at the top tennis level.
The new tennis year will bring to light some new faces with great careers predicted. From a German perspective, this is Justin Engel, who celebrated his first successes on the ATP tour as a 17-year-old and only wants to be on the men’s tour from the new year. At most, he could only compete in the junior Grand Slams.
Engel has set himself the goal of becoming the future number one in the tennis world, and Philipp Kohlschreiber is supposed to help him get there as a coach. He has already confirmed that his new protégé will soon be the German co-star alongside Alexander Zverev. “He definitely has the potential. I can’t say whether that will be in one, two or three years.”said Kohlschreiber. He obviously has no doubts that it will even happen.
Fonseca is already winning like Sinner and Alcaraz
Joao Fonseca’s path at international level seems to be similarly clear. At the NextGen Finals in Saudi Arabia, the Brazilian, who was already considered a top talent, caused a huge sensation and defeated, among others, Jakub Mensik (Czech Republic) and Arthur Fils (France) who were 48th and 20th in the world rankings.
Along with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, Fonseca is the only one who was able to win the Junior Masters – where the best players aged 20 or younger compete – at the age of 18. But that’s not the only reason why the teenager will soon be considered on a par with the two top players – and that’s exactly where he sees himself in the foreseeable future.
“My dream is to be number one”
“It’s incredible how I’ve improved both physically and mentally. I’m proud of myself, but of course I want more. My dream is to be number one”said Fonseca after his triumph in Jeddah. The current number 145 in the world has aligned his entire environment with this in mind, he is already being looked after in a highly professional manner – this also means that he appears to be a little more reserved in his choice of words.
This is also supported by the fact that Fonseca restricts his social media accounts during his tournaments. His objective therefore now sounds more muted. “I know there is still a lot ahead of me. I have world ranking and title goals, but these are more personal things that I discuss with my coach. I prefer not to talk about them so as not to raise expectations.”said Fonseca in an interview with the Brazilian portal “Estadão”.
Joao Fonseca is Brazil’s new tennis hope.
Parents enable Fonseca to pursue a tennis career
The tennis player is lucky that his parents give him the security he needs in everything away from the court. His father is a financial specialist and, among other things, founded a company that also specializes in real estate investments. Fonseca’s mother organizes sporting events, and they both manage his career – now together with an agent – and give him the resources he needs to be successful.
“Luckily I have my parents who help me with the money, which is quite a lot”said Fonseca. You have to be able to afford a tennis career despite all the travel. But it is increasingly standing on its own two feet because Fonseca now has a large sponsor portfolio – especially for his age. In addition, the prize money is slowly starting to come in; around 500,000 euros were awarded for his victory in Saudi Arabia.
Compare with “Guga” Kuerten
Around the turn of the millennium, Brazil had its last top-level tennis player, Gustavo Kuerten – in 2025, Fonseca is scheduled to take the next steps into these regions. He is already being pushed in his homeland and openly compared to “Guga”. But Fonseca himself is trying to free himself from it.
Gustavo Kürten won the French Open three times between 1997 and 2001.
“Whenever a young person achieves great things, here in Brazil they are quickly labeled as a promise. I want to play my tennis, live the sport and keep my routine. Every athlete has his own time”said Fonseca. And his could come now.