BUENOS AIRES – How do you deal with double pressure, with the expectations in Buenos Aires and the enormous, overwhelming pressure of playing next week in Rio de Janeiro? Joao Fonseca believes he has the formula: ‘You have to enjoy it.’
Champion in 2025 in Buenos Aires, Fonseca’s image stands out in a series of photographs that recall the history of the Argentina Open, a tournament with a significant Brazilian influence. The first champion, in 2001, was Gustavo Kuerten. The last, in 2025, was Joao Fonseca.
The new star of Brazilian tennis is still a long way from everything Kuerten achieved, although there is one thing in which he surpasses the Florianópolis native: his Spanish is very good, and he even has the ability to speak ‘Argentinean’, using idioms and words typical of the country of Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi.
And so, speaking in ‘Argentinean’ Spanish, Fonseca gave a thorough analysis on Monday of what happened in 2025 and what he expects for 2026.
‘Due to physical issues, I didn’t have a good start to the season, but now I’m 100% and playing at a very good level on clay. I started training in Rio and now I managed to train here yesterday and today. It’s great to be here playing good tennis and defending the title. This experience is for few people, you have to enjoy it, try to play my best tennis and try to win again.’
Fonseca, who trained on the Guillermo Vilas centre court on Monday, speaks in a press room that is a white tent that concentrates heat and humidity on a hellish Monday in the Argentine capital. Since this year, the press room has been named ‘Guillermo Salatino’ in tribute to the legendary Argentine journalist specialising in tennis, who died in January at the age of 80.
A year ago, seeing Fonseca conquer Buenos Aires in a grand final against Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo, Salatino left his diagnosis in a column in CLAY: ‘The first thing I think about is how good he is. Yes, how good he is! And then, on second thought, I see something else, I see a mini Juan Martín del Potro.’
But Fonseca wants to be more than Del Potro; it would not be enough for him to be number three in the world, US Open champion, Davis Cup champion and winner of two Olympic medals. Fonseca, with the unabashed audacity so common in Carlos Alcaraz’s generation, said on Monday in Buenos Aires that he wants to be number one.
The pressure, of course, comes from outside, but also from within, from Fonseca himself.
“I think that this year, obviously, I had ups and downs, thank God more ups than downs, but there were moments when I thought more, I had more pressure, more expectations on my part. At the end of the year, I managed to win Basel, which was a difficult tournament and my first ATP 500… I think I came out of last year more mature, more experienced, knowing how to deal a little more with this ATP top 100 level and knowing that I have to work harder and harder to move up in the rankings, to climb higher and higher and achieve my dream of being number one, winning the Grand Slam.”
It would not be a surprise if Fonseca defended his title in Buenos Aires, but the big challenge ahead of him, a milestone that could well mark his season, for better or worse, is what he does next week at the Rio Open, where in 2025 he took a hard blow: elimination in his debut against Frenchman Alexandre Müller.
What did you learn from last year that you can apply this year when you play in your city next week? CLAY asked Fonseca during the press conference.
“I think last year I had played few ATP tournaments yet. More and more people began to know me, to know who I am, what I am capable of. And I think that after my first title here, playing a week later is always more difficult. After winning a title and going home with a lot of people, with expectations and obviously pressure… I couldn’t deal with it, and I think I was thinking too much about the result and about enjoying having my friends here, my family here, being at home, 10 minutes from my house, and having trained there for many years of my life.
I didn’t manage it, I put a lot of pressure on myself and I think now I’ve come to understand that I have to enjoy these moments. The same here, when defending a title, you have to enjoy these moments. Few people manage to enjoy it, manage to have this experience.The enormous expectations that Brazilian sport has placed on Fonseca are not ignored by the player himself, who at 19 seems to have a clear understanding of what happens on and off the pitch.‘I think it’s a very natural thing in Brazil. I think that when they see a promising player or athlete in any sport doing well, they put pressure on them and have expectations. Sometimes they want to speak badly about them. Many speak well, but there are people who speak badly. Obviously, there are a lot of expectations and pressure.’
