The greatest threat to disrupting the duopoly of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in the near future is an 18-year-old Brazilian. Joao Fonseca, the new kid on the block, is the most promising teenager in the men’s tennis tour.
“I look at their rivalry, and that’s where I want to go. I want to be like Sinner and Alcaraz; I want to win Grand Slams,” Fonseca confessed CLAY in an interview.
He first appeared on the radar in 2023 when he won the US Open junior title and finished the year as the top-ranked junior. Just months later, he made a notable impression by reaching the quarterfinals at the Rio Open.
His talent even caught the attention of Roger Federer. Fonseca is sponsored by the Swiss brand On, in which the eight-time Wimbledon champion owns a stake. However, the young Brazilian dared to turn down two significant offers from Federer during the past season.
Joao Fonseca declined to sign a contract with Team8, Federer’s agency co-founded with his manager, Tony Godsick. His parents, aware of their son’s meteoric rise, prefer to manage his contracts themselves for now, avoiding any rushed decisions.
He also rejected Federer’s invitation to join the 2024 Laver Cup as a reserve and sparring partner for Team World. “There were scheduling conflicts. He does want to play it, but everything will happen in its time,” sources close to Fonseca revealed.
By the end of 2024, Fonseca won the Next Gen Finals—a tournament whose past champions include Sinner, Alcaraz, and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Just weeks later, he qualified for the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time, right after winning another ATP Challenger event (Canberra).
At the Australian Open, Fonseca successfully advanced through the qualifiers and will face Andrey Rublev in the first round—a match expected to be one of the most intriguing encounters in the early days of the Melbourne tournament.
Interview with Joao Fonseca
– How did you handle the fame that came your way last season? You were the first tennis player born in 2006 to win an ATP match (in February 2024, in Rio de Janeiro), which brought a lot of attention to you.
– Yes, it’s something I’ve been working on a lot since then. There are a lot of expectations on me, but I just try to stay focused as much as possible on my routine, together with people who bring me positive things and who will be by my side. It’s difficult, but I’m focused on tennis. Not on sponsorships, not on money. Others take care of other things. Along with tennis, the results and the money will come. I’ve talked it over with my parents and my coach. I never thought much about fame. I’ve always been very dedicated, I want to play tennis, I want to be a champion.
– You are already being stopped by fans in the streets? Do you like this contact with people, or would you prefer to go unnoticed?
– I’m just not used to it, but more and more people will approach me off court. I have to get used to it. On court I think I learned at a very young age to relate well with the crowd. Whatever they give me, they make me stronger and many times that helps me to turn games around. Mental factors come in when fans get involved in the match, whether if they support you, or if they are with your rival. I always use that to my advantage.
– What goes through your mind when you’re described as one of the most promising prospects in professional tennis—even as the standout global talent of your generation?
– There is a lot of pressure regarding the expectations I am building up. I’m a guy they’re talking about a lot, they’re watching me in tournaments… the pressure I like is the pressure that can be on my opponents. They know I’m a new guy, younger than the rest and playing well. I like the match to have that kind of pressure. I’m 18 years old and I understand that I’m in training, that I’m a project. I’m in my first months on the professional tour and I’ve learned a lot. I think a lot about the future.
– Agencies like IMG and Team8 have competed to manage your career. How does it feel to have these kinds of opportunities happening around you?
– We’ve thought a lot with my family about it, we’ve talked about the idea of having an agent, but for now we’re fine. For now I won’t have an agent, I won’t sign with an agency yet. My agents are my parents. For now we are living the present calmly, thinking very well, because it’s a career-long thing. These are important decisions and for now we are waiting to find the right path and get it right.
– Roger Federer owns Team8. Your clothing sponsor is already the Swiss brand On, of which he is a percentage owner. Signing for Team8 would bring you closer to him…
– Yeah, yeah, crazy, but we’re waiting for now.
– So, did you get to meet Federer?
– I haven’t met him yet. Obviously we’re connected by On, but I haven’t met him personally yet. He did send me a video after I won the US Open junior in 2023. He also already spoke to my dad. It’s an honour to wear his brand
– Federer has been a key figure in tennis since before your earliest memories of the sport. What would you like to learn from him?
– Federer has been my idol since I was a child. I always enjoyed watching his matches, his classic, easy, elegant style. He is a reference. I would like to know his stories, to know what happens in difficult moments. What he felt about tennis when he was my age. He’s very talented, but a lot of people say he wasn’t very dedicated in his youth. I would like to hear that from him, because he could contribute and teach me a lot of things. If I had a conversation with him, I would try to get the most out of it.
– And if you could steal him a shot to incorporate into your game, what would you choose?
– The serve.
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– Where do you see yourself at the end of 2025?
– I see myself playing major tournaments, playing in the Grand Slams. It’s not a goal or even less an obligation in my head, no. It’s just what I want. Everything has its time, but it’s where I want to get to and where I think I have the potential to get to.
– Do you talk to Carlos Alcaraz? You have shared training sessions.
– We have a good relationship, we always talk when we meet. He and his team are very calm, he is doing things well. He is an idol for the whole next generation.
– Didn’t you invite Alcaraz to dinner when he visited Rio de Janeiro in February 2024?
– Ah, no, I don’t have that intimacy yet. But, well, I hope that in the next few years when we get to know better and become friends we can share a good dinner with our teams.
– How do you feel when you see the rivalry developing between Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, and what goes through your mind when you watch their matches?
– I see them in their rivalry and that’s where I want to go. Sometimes I think, ‘I’m going to aim for top 100, top 50’. No. I’m going to look at them. I want to be like them. I want to win Grand Slams and other big tournaments. Alcaraz and Sinner serve as inspiration and motivation to keep working harder and harder.
– Do you dream of being like that third element of a ‘Big 3 of the future’?
– It’s hard to talk about that, but that’s where I want to go. It’s not something I think about, it’s just going to be a consequence of my work.
– Another legend you admire is Gustavo ‘Guga’ Kuerten.
– I met him in the Davis Cup, when we played against China in Florianópolis. I was the sparring of the Brazilian team. He is an idol for Brazil, not only in tennis, not only in sport. He is very charismatic, and he has a lot of positive things to give us. He won three Grand Slams, knew the whole tour very well, and won his first Roland Garros without being a favourite. He taught me a lot of good lessons.
– What else you would like to know from him?
– I’m curious about how he dealt with the situation after winning a Grand Slam. I want to know what went through his head after he won his first Roland Garros so young. And he was still very young when he won his third.
– Given the success of Brazilian sport in the past, thanks to figures like Kuerten and Ayrton Senna, does that create pressure or serve as inspiration for someone as promising as you?
– I think it’s more inspiration. I learned very young to play with a crowd. And I realized that I like that pressure. I like to hear the “c’mon Joao”. And the times that people have been against me, most of the times I did face the situation well. It is more difficult, but I think I have also seen my rivals overcome by that factor. There I have an advantage because I have more experience, I started competing at a very young age. So, in general, pressure of any kind motivates me.
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