PARIS – When you try something you like, you want to try it again. And again, and again. When someone like Joao Fonseca reaches the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time, he wants to do it again. And go further. Despite the defeat on a chilly Tuesday night in Paris, his time at Roland Garros opens up a new path for the Brazilian.
‘I’m the same Joao, but I’ve discovered new things,’ he said in the early hours of Wednesday morning in Paris after losing 6-4, 6-3 and 7-6 (7-3) to the relentless Czech Jakub Mensik.
Good news for him, having arrived at the biggest clay-court tournament with the nagging echo of doubt in his ears. Was he really that good? Wasn’t there too much ‘hype’ surrounding him? Why is there so much talk about Fonseca and not about Learner Tien, a contemporary who has achieved equal or better results? And so on and so forth.
Watched from the Philippe Chatrier box by Gustavo Kuerten, who in a year’s time will celebrate three decades since his first and very unexpected title at Roland Garros, Fonseca gradually found his form as the tournament progressed, demonstrated a great ability to come back from behind, and will forever carry the distinction of having knocked Novak Djokovic out of the tournament. Perhaps the Serbian’s final match at Roland Garros?
At 19, Fonseca is once again closing in on that world No. 24 ranking, his best achievement to date, but the important thing is something else.
What matters is that the Brazilian has now had a taste of the big leagues of tennis, because reaching the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam is a milestone, and because he also played three consecutive matches on Centre Court, one of the sport’s key venues. He is unlikely to want to go back to being the Fonseca of the doubts and inhibitions of the early months of the year.
‘I’m still the same Joao, only now I know my limits a bit better. Before, I didn’t know if I could last a five-hour or four-hour match, and now I know I haven’t reached my limit yet. But I know I can rely on my fitness and I think I feel more comfortable with my game, with the way I play, and that my mindset is on the right track.’
‘I think after the two matches I’ve had, where I lost the first two sets and then tried to do different things and find other ways of playing, and managed to come through. So I think maybe I’m the same Joao, but with the discovery of new things. You know?’
Fonseca’s next steps include returning to Brazil, his home country, which he hasn’t visited since late March (“just a week”), and then tackling the grass-court season, with Halle and Eastbourne as stopovers ahead of Wimbledon, the new major challenge – as is only to be expected from a young man who admires Roger Federer.
