{"id":253467,"date":"2025-10-31T15:29:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T15:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/253467\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T15:29:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T15:29:19","slug":"joao-fonseca-teenage-tennis-star-and-generational-talent-tempering-power-with-patience-as-he-ascends-the-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/253467\/","title":{"rendered":"Jo\u00e3o Fonseca: Teenage tennis star and \u2018generational talent\u2019 tempering power with patience as he ascends the sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Ever since he first picked up a tennis<\/a> racket, Jo\u00e3o Fonseca<\/a> has shown a penchant for power \u2013 even if it came with mixed results.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI was the kind of kid that destroyed the ball,\u201d says Fonseca. \u201cSometimes, it would go into the fence; sometimes, it would go straight to the floor; and then, sometimes, we\u2019re doing a winner.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n That approach \u2013 fearless, furious and unrestrained \u2013 has stayed with the Brazilian into his professional career, and today, his ripping forehand is one of the most breathtaking sights in men\u2019s tennis.\n <\/p>\n

\n Few players can match the 19-year-old Fonseca when it comes to raw power<\/a>, particularly on the forehand wing. This not-so-subtle, not-so-secret weapon has guided him to two ATP Tour titles this year, including in the Swiss city of Basel last week.\n <\/p>\n

\n There, Fonseca thumped 29 winners to see off Spain\u2019s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final, while his average forehand speed was clocked at 81 miles per hour. For comparison, top players usually average<\/a> around 75.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI think my coach was really the first one that said: \u2018Keep with this aggression,\u2019\u201d Fonseca tells CNN Sports<\/a> about his all-out approach. \u201c\u2018Keep doing this, but at the same time, let\u2019s work with being more solid.\u2019\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cDuring these last years, I understood that you can\u2019t hit the ball hard every time \u2026 Sometimes, it\u2019s a stupid idea, of course, but sometimes, it\u2019s good to be aggressive, to be courageous and have confidence in your shots.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Lifting the title in Basel saw Fonseca become the third-youngest ATP 500 winner since the format was introduced in 2009, as well as the tournament\u2019s youngest winner since Jim Courier in 1989.\n <\/p>\n

\"Fonseca<\/p>\n

\n Still a teenager, Fonseca\u2019s potential is huge, his freakish power likely to become more of a threat as he develops and refines his game. To some, he is destined to join Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> and Jannik Sinner<\/a> \u2013 by far and away the standout players in men\u2019s tennis this year \u2013 at the very top of the game.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe Brazilian Blaster (Fonseca) is a generational talent as I said 2 years ago and will be right there someday with the Italian Flamethrower (Sinner) and Spanish Magician (Alcaraz),\u201d Rick Macci, the former coach to Serena Williams, wrote<\/a> on X recently.\n <\/p>\n

\n Those players, Macci added, will \u201ccreate a new big three\u201d to replace Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.\n <\/p>\n

\n Davidovich Fokina spoke along the same lines during his runner-up speech in Basel, telling Fonseca that he is \u201cfor sure going to be the next Nole (Djokovic) to beat Carlos and Jannik.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n After winning last year\u2019s Next Gen ATP Finals title \u2013 a tournament featuring the world\u2019s best players under 20 \u2013 Fonseca turned heads at the Australian Open in January with a straight-sets victory over ninth seed Andrey Rublev.\n <\/p>\n

\n He followed that up by winning the Argentina Open a month later, becoming the second-youngest South American to win an ATP title in the Open Era.\n <\/p>\n

\"Fonseca<\/p>\n

\n But Fonseca\u2019s progress hasn\u2019t been exponential. He failed to progress past the third round of a grand slam this year, perhaps a surprise after the enormous promise he showed at the start of the season.\n <\/p>\n

\n The victory in Basel, however, reaffirmed his status as one of the most explosive talents in the game, with Fonseca climbing 18 spots up the rankings to No. 28. That puts him well on track to fulfill his self-ascribed objectives for next year.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI think one of my goals is to be a seed, top 32 (at a grand slam),\u201d says Fonseca. \u201cIt\u2019s my personal goal. I\u2019m working a lot to do it \u2026 let\u2019s see how it goes.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n To get to this level, Fonseca had to spend his formative years building a bond with tennis. As a young player, the game would make him feel restless, and he often found himself chasing big, haymaking shots on the court. He was even more impatient off it, unable to watch a full match without losing interest.\n <\/p>\n

\n That changed around 2019, when Fonseca sat absorbed as Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer in a Wimbledon<\/a> final lasting four hours and 57 minutes \u2013 the longest final in the tournament\u2019s history.\n <\/p>\n

\n A self-proclaimed Federer superfan, that match hurt Fonseca. As he started to enjoy tennis as a spectator, he would often watch the \u201cBig 3\u201d play out match after memorable match on the sport\u2019s biggest stages, but it was the Swiss star who captivated him the most.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cHe\u2019s my idol,\u201d Fonseca confesses. Which goes some way to explaining why he suddenly found himself a sweaty, nervous wreck before meeting Federer for the first time in September.\n <\/p>\n

\"Fonseca<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe had a nice chat, about 10 minutes, and we talked a little bit about life, tour, how it is to live in Brazil and be far from home,\u201d says Fonseca, adding: \u201cHe\u2019s a super nice guy. You see these amazing players, these legends, as untouchable (and think): this guy is different. But no, he\u2019s just a human being like us, super cool.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt was a very important moment; it\u2019s going to be in my mind for my whole life.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s likely that the two might cross paths again, particularly given that Fonseca is sponsored by On \u2013 the sportswear company in which Federer has invested. The Brazilian was only 16 when he was signed by On and earmarked as a star in the making, joining a roster that includes six-time grand slam winner Iga \u015awi\u0105tek<\/a> and world No. 7 Ben Shelton<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n Several years earlier, Fonseca had made the decision to focus his sporting endeavors solely on tennis, not long after a soccer<\/a> injury had left him sidelined for months.\n <\/p>\n

\n Like most kids growing up in Rio de Janeiro, soccer was, and still is, one of his great loves, even though his playing days have long since passed.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI was a good level,\u201d says Fonseca. \u201cI\u2019m a lefty leg, I had some skills, but nothing serious. I wouldn\u2019t be professional or whatever. Fortunately, I stayed with tennis.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"Fonseca<\/p>\n

\n After reaching the quarterfinals of last year\u2019s Rio Open aged 17, Fonseca decided to forego his college eligibility \u2013 he was holding a place at the University of Virginia \u2013 and turn professional.\n <\/p>\n

\n Since then, his march up the world rankings has been steady, quickly earning him an army of dedicated fans. Fonseca\u2019s matches are some of the loudest on tour, and regardless of whether he\u2019s playing in Brazil or further afield, yellow-and-green-clad spectators are guaranteed whenever he\u2019s on a tennis court.\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s taken time, Fonseca admits, to grow accustomed to playing in front of such raucous crowds.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cAt the beginning, I was super nervous,\u201d he says. \u201cI needed to win, and there are people watching me, there are people cheering for me. The culture of Brazil is super loud, a lot of people supporting, I\u2019ll say a little bit because of football.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI got used a lot to the crowd. Nowadays, I love playing with the crowd. I love them supporting me. I love that sometimes I\u2019m in a bad situation in the match and they\u2019re still supporting me, still cheering and motivating me.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI was more like a shy guy,\u201d he adds, \u201cand now I\u2019m loving it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"Fonseca<\/p>\n

\n Playing in loud matches at big tournaments is likely to be a mainstay of Fonseca\u2019s career. He is slowly accumulating more experience against the world\u2019s best players but hasn\u2019t yet faced Djokovic \u2013 he\u2019s hopeful of doing so before the Serb, now 38, retires \u2013 nor has he played either Alcaraz or Sinner.\n <\/p>\n

\n Those kinds of matches might become a regular occurrence should Fonseca, armed with that ferocious forehand, continue his march up the rankings. For now, he is watching closely as two players just a few years his senior rule over men\u2019s tennis, sharing the past eight grand slams equally between them.\n <\/p>\n

\n One day, Fonseca might be in a position to challenge their duopoly.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhat they\u2019re doing is amazing,\u201d he says of Alcaraz and Sinner. \u201cThey\u2019re winning every tournament that they play.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThey motivate all the other players to put more work in day by day, and try to be with them, try to win more tournaments, try to win matches, be more consistent. Hopefully, in the future, I will be with them, playing and competing in finals. But one step at a time, and let\u2019s put in the work.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ever since he first picked up a tennis racket, Jo\u00e3o Fonseca has shown a penchant for power \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253468,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-253467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}