Acclaimed tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou has hailed rising stars Victoria Mboko and Joao Fonseca as the “future of tennis” ahead of the upcoming 2026 season.

Several tennis players sealed huge breakthroughs across a memorable 2025 campaign, though Mboko and Fonseca ultimately proved to be two of the most-improved players of the year.

WTA star Mboko was ranked outside the top 300 at the start of the year, but then surged up the rankings in the opening months of the season, winning a string of ITF Tour events.

The Canadian then reached round three of the French Open as a qualifier before embarking on a stunning run at her home WTA 1000 event, beating four Grand Slam champions on her way to the title.

After a brief dip in form, the 19-year-old wrapped up her season by winning a second WTA title in Hong Kong, ending the year ranked 18th in the world.

ATP Tour ace Fonseca also captured two tour-level titles in 2025, starting with victory at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires in February.

The 19-year-old then won his first ATP 500 title at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, and finished the year ranked 24th in the world — having begun the season outside of the top 40.

Fonseca made his Grand Slam main-draw debut at the Australian Open in January and would ultimately win at least one match at all four majors in 2025.

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Speaking in an Instagram post this week, Mouratoglou — best known for his work with Serena Williams — hailed both Mboko and Fonseca’s potential.

“The rise of Fonseca and Mboko — those two players are the future of tennis,” said Mouratoglou.

“I will start with Victoria Mboko. She’s Canadian, she’s played an incredible season, she was out of the top 100, she killed it this year.

“She won a Masters [WTA] 1000. She had some downs after that because suddenly the pressure became too high — she arrived like a bomb in the tennis world, the WTA world.

“The quality of her game, her physical assets, her personality. I mean, she has a whole package, and she’s definitely the future of tennis. I’m super happy to see her coming up so fast.

“And, I want to say the same for Joao Fonseca from Brazil.

“This year, he continued to rise. He had also some ups and downs. He also experiences crazy pressure; you can imagine how much the Brazilian fans are behind him, which is positive, but also a lot of responsibility for such a young guy.

“If you look, his ranking year after year, it’s going like a bomb. He’s the future of men’s tennis, he’s potentially someone who in the next years — probably not next year — but in the next years, compete with Alcaraz and Sinner, because he has everything for that.”

Outside of their success on court, both Mboko and Fonseca generated strong followings across 2025 and look set to become stars on and off the court in the years to come.

And, Mouratoglou believes both rising stars could ultimately develop “icon” status within the sport throughout their careers.

He added: “And I love both Mboko and Fonseca, on and off the court.

“On the court, because of the tennis they play, their potential, their physical assets. They have the full package and, of course, the mental side.

“When I say off the court, I mean it’s on the court, but it’s not purely tennis. It’s the ability to bring everyone with them. They both already have so many fans, and I feel she [Mboko] can do something big for tennis, potentially an icon.

“And, I say the same for Joao Fonseca. He already has so many fans, that’s a joke. Wherever he plays, you have an incredible Brazilian crowd. A lot of guys follow him on tour already.

“We cannot wait to see them at the highest level, but they’re on their way.”

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