{"id":6360,"date":"2025-07-18T20:40:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T20:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/6360\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T20:40:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T20:40:16","slug":"andy-roddick-admits-he-was-stunned-by-what-he-heard-people-saying-about-joao-fonseca-earlier-this-year-on-what-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/6360\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Roddick admits he was stunned by what he heard people saying about Joao Fonseca earlier this year, \u2018on what planet\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Andy Roddick has been left stunned by what people have been saying about Jo\u00e3o Fonseca earlier this year.<\/p>\n

After all, the tendency that media of any kind has to build up and then tear down talent is frightening, with tennis no different.<\/p>\n

This Brazilian is just 18 years old and already on track to shatter records for fun, but is being constantly slated due to the comparisons made against the legends who have come before him.<\/p>\n

Whether it be Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> or Rafael Nadal, this is a level that no young player should ever be expected to reach.<\/p>\n

And yet, Joao Fonseca<\/a> is trying his best, but still falls short of such perfection, drawing scrutiny that has left Roddick both frustrated and shocked.<\/p>\n

Andy Roddick admits he\u2019s buying into the Jo\u00e3o Fonseca hype<\/p>\n

Speaking on his Served with Andy Roddick podcast after Wimbledon\u2019s conclusion, the former world number one was keen to dispel one issue he has had in the aftermath of this Grand Slam pertaining to the likes of Fonseca and other young stars.<\/p>\n

Seeking to temper expectations, Roddick admitted: \u201cAlso, like, okay, he draws huge crowds in Miami. That doesn\u2019t automatically expedite the learning curve for him because people are interested in him. Like, there\u2019s a clear separation between popularity, and I think he\u2019s gonna be\u2026 I buy the hype, right? I also don\u2019t buy it immediately.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing into Roland Garros, he had lost, like, three straight first rounds, one in the challenger, and we\u2019re on his first round match, and they\u2019re going, right, he\u2019s one of the top five title contenders. I\u2019m like, on what planet? Like, I mean, we got to just kind of like, take a beat.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, to the point, we\u2019ve seen these guys, whether it\u2019s Rafa or Alcaraz breaking through, and Sinner\u2019s a good example, because I have it underlined here. Remember when the narrative was that he can\u2019t win a big match? Do you remember that? Way back when, like, four years ago? <\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, and so we just need some time and some patience. We don\u2019t need Fonseca to be max Fonseca in the next three months. Like, it will take a little bit of time, even though we\u2019ve been spoiled, in the best possible way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Admittedly, watching Fonseca\u2019s forehand up close<\/a> did explain where all the hype has come from for this young superstar.<\/p>\n

How good really is Jo\u00e3o Fonseca?<\/p>\n

A lot has been said about this prodigious Brazilian, who commands hordes of fans wherever he goes.<\/p>\n

After all, his talent is evident for all to see, with his home nation seemingly full of expectation for what might come from the teenage sensation.<\/p>\n

Alas, at times, this unrelenting support has been used to detract from his abilities, with some suggesting that this backing affords an undeserving youngster preferential treatment, particularly with regard to the arenas he plays in.<\/p>\n

But, there\u2019s no denying that Fonseca is the future of this sport, and to predict his imminent rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner is not an unfair suggestion based on what we have seen so far.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth remembering that they are four and five years his senior, and at his age were occupying a similar level.<\/p>\n

\"CarlosPhoto by Clive Brunskill\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

At 17, Alcaraz made his main draw debut at the Australian Open as a qualifier, just one year before Fonseca did. He lost in the second round, as did Fonseca, who actually beat Andrey Rublev in the first round.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Sinner was 17 when he qualified for the US Open, his debut at a major, but was beaten in the first round.<\/p>\n

These are formative experiences that mould a young player, and Fonseca is on track to emulate what this pair have already done and potentially challenge their duopoly over men\u2019s tennis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Roddick has been left stunned by what people have been saying about Jo\u00e3o Fonseca earlier this year.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6361,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[7088,49,48,7089,82,593],"class_list":{"0":"post-6360","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-andy-roddick","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-joao-fonseca","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}