26/04/2024 19:14hs.
Joao Fonseca He is probably the Brazilian player who is attracting the most attention among sports fans in our neighboring country. At 17 years old, born in Rio de Janeiro, he is marking a before and after in the generation of Brazilian tennis players born in the 21st century. Ex number 1 in the junior ranking, became the first player in the 2006 category to win an ATP match and today he already appears in 242nd place, after having jumped more than 400 positions in the year. In Ole We tell you the story of a tennis player who never stops surprising and who is on his way to being a great protagonist on the circuit.
With tennis similar to that of Jannik Sinner, in his words, his offensive game on the court does not match the person he shows himself to be off it. Shy, polite and with a low voiceis forming a personality that changes in the best Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde style when the ball begins to go over the net.
Fonseca comes from a family that, without major financial problems, lived with sport always present. It’s more, his mother was a senior volleyball champion (what Joao practices in his free time), his brother dedicated himself to surfing and his father was a lover of various disciplines.
Fonseca is the sensation of Brazilian tennis.
See Nadal in Rio, the beginning of the story
His love for tennis began when, at the age of seven and playing soccer at the time, he saw Rafael Nadal (who invited him to train in Kuwait in a preseason) win a match in the first edition of the Río Open. At that moment, sitting in the box of the Leblón Jockey Club, he told his father “I want to play, I want to be like them”.
From there, he was a ballkid in the following editions of the championship while breaking it in his youth stage. Later, she became a sparring partner for several players in different events, including Carlos Alcaraz, Novak DjokovicJannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune and Alexander Zverev.
Trained by Guilherme Teixeira Since he was 11 years old, he put together his work team with a physiotherapist and a physical trainer. Even with his young age, he decided that Andrés Sa would not be part of the coaching staff.
Fonseca and his management as a professional
Due to his logical inexperience to handle himself socially at conferences or on social networks like a world elite athlete, his family hired Diana Gabanyi as a press assistant, who said that “he’s really shyand the family wants to learn how it works.
Regarding exposure on the field, he commented on the mental change when playing with the public: “A few years ago they yelled at me during a game and I felt a little embarrassed, but I learned to use all that to my advantage.“. One of the situations that marked him was in a Davis Cup when Guga Kuerten, the best player in the history of Brazil, and Fernando Meligeni accompanied him as Junior and taught him how to manage his breath.
Fonseca dreams of winning Wimbledon.
His history in the Grand Slams
Last year, Fonseca was part of the Junior Grand Slam tournaments, and at 16 years old, won the US Open editionwhich earned him the status of the first Brazilian tennis player to be No. 1 in the category.
In Brazil he played his first ATP tournament this year, precisely at the Rio Open, and reached the quarterfinals. After his local time at the tournament, he said: “Playing in Rio was a big step, but I want more, I want more and more“I was preparing for months.” His ultimate dream? Winning Wimbledon.
In Argentina, Fonseca participated this season in two challengers in Buenos Aires, where he reached the semi-finals of the first, but in the following week he barely lasted one game. However, in that second week won the competition in doubles with Pedro Sakamoto.
The dilemma between studying and competing professionally
Beyond his high level and the fact that his career promises a lot, Joao, who also speaks English due to having lived in California, does not neglect his life outside the courts and knows that not everything will happen because of what he does with the rackets. Last year the possibility arose of play for the University of Virginia. In fact, he signed up and did not rule out the option of stopping the competition and dedicating himself to studying.
“I do not want to think about that, I just want to play. It is a personal decision and one that I neither want nor am going to make for now, I am going to do it with my parents and my family. I’m going to take it with them and I’m not going to make it public yet, I’m going to leave it for later,” she said about the university chance.
The problem is that the university does not allow him to keep the money he wins from the prizes (a maximum of 10 thousand dollars can be collected) and requires him to donate them, but not with the money from the sponsors. In that sense, Joao today is sponsored by Roger Federer’s brand (his childhood idol) ON, which also has Ben Shelton and Iga Swiatek in its label.
Finally, after his performance at the Río Open, he announced on Instagram that he was giving up university tennis and would dedicate himself fully to professionalism: “It was a very hard decision for me and my family, since I dreamed of a university life in Charlottesville, playing the game I love with a wonderful team and coach, but, in the last few months, professional tennis called and I couldn’t say no.
Fonseca during the Madrid Open.
The year of Fonseca
So far in 2024, Fonseca, who started the season as 727th, played 11 tournaments of which he raised none, but added 14 wins and 10 lossesall in brick dust.
In the short term, Roland Garros could be a more than likely destination for the Brazilian to play, because the Brazilian Tennis Federation has already sent the request to receive the wild card for Paris. If it happens, he would play his first Grand Slam match at only 17 years old.
2024-04-26 22:14:29
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