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‘I know everything is possible’: Teenager João Fonseca on Wimbledon, football and Federer

Brazilian is one of tennis’s brightest rising stars and will make his Wimbledon main draw debut next week

When the 18-year-old Brazilian João Fonseca beat the world No 9 at the time, Andrey Rublev, in this year’s Australian Open first round the hype machine went into overdrive. Here was the next big thing, a man who could bridge the gap to the world’s top two, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. When he went out in round two, questions were asked about the wisdom in talking up a man appearing in his first grand slam draw.

One month later, Fonseca proved he has the mental strength and resolve to match his undoubted talent. Facing Argentina’s Mariano Navone in the quarter-finals in Buenos Aires, in front of a hostile home crowd, he saved two match points and then went all the way to win his first ATP Tour title. He handled the occasion brilliantly, loving every minute. The hype is real.

 

“That was my biggest title and it was the most important of my career,” says Fonseca, breaking between practice sessions for his main draw debut at Wimbledon next week. “I won against four Argentinians in Argentina, which is very difficult because the crowd there is loud, and I needed to reverse a lot of situations. Navone had match points against me and he served for the match.

“The week was super important for my maturity and for my experience because, at that time, people were thinking: ‘OK, this guy is good, he’s talented, he can hit the ball hard, but let’s see if he has mentality and physicality’. I won because of these two things. It was important for myself to understand I was ready to fight until the last point.”

Fonseca’s easy playing style, mixed with raw power, has already drawn comparisons with Roger Federer, who happens to be his idol. A former junior world No 1, Fonseca won the Next Gen Finals last year and has climbed more than 650 places in the past 18 months to sit just outside the world’s top 50. If pressure and expectations are growing week on week, he sees it as an honour and a privilege rather than a burden.