Tennis-Jungstar João Fonseca
“When I met Roger I was shaking”
The 19-year-old Brazilian only wore Federer shirts as a child, but now he plays at the home of his idol. But although Fonseca admired the Swiss, he turned him down.
Basel seems to inspire him: João Fonseca beat last year’s winner at the start.
Photo: Nico Ilic (Freshfocus)
- The young Brazilian star João Fonseca is aiming for a career like Roger Federer.
- Already at the age of seven, Fonseca only wore Federer shirts and studied his style of play.
- At the first meeting with Federer at the Laver Cup, he was extremely nervous.
- As number 46 in the world rankings, Fonseca has successfully established himself on the ATP tour.
For his 19 years, João Fonseca seems surprisingly confident. He knows what he can do – and he knows where he wants to go: He wants to turn the duel between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner into a three-way duel. Not today or tomorrow, but in the medium term.
Those who know the scene definitely believe the talented Brazilian can do that. Few can accelerate balls with the forehand like he can, and he doesn’t shy away from challenges. In the first Grand Slam match in January At the Australian Open, João Fonseca beat Andrei Rublew a top 10 player right away. He also recently shone in his debut at the Laver Cup in San Francisco.
Fonseca tried to imitate Roger Federer’s game
As cool as he appeared against Flavio Cobolli at the Chase Center, he was just as nervous when he met Roger Federer for the first time behind the scenes. At the age of seven he only wore Federer shirts, he said in Basel. And he watched as many of the Swiss’s matches as possible on television and tried to understand his game.
His jagged forehand and his attacking style of play actually bear traces of Federer. Fonseca also tried to play the backhand one-handed – but that didn’t work.
His forehand is already one of the best on the tour: João Fonseca in action.
Photo: Nico Ilic (Freshfocus)
Federer was also a reason why he was already 16 at the Swiss sporting goods manufacturer On signed. «We also had other offers. But Roger is my idol, and I said to my dad, ‘I don’t know what it’s going to be like financially, but I don’t want to miss this opportunity to get close to him.'”
The Zurich company showed a good hand with Fonseca. In 2023 he won the junior tournament at the US Open and this season he has established himself in the top 50. His reputation as a future star also earned him the squad for the Laver Cup – and there he met Federer for the first time, who helps organize the team competition. “When I met Roger, I was shaking and my hands started to sweat,” he says with a smile.
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Federer quickly took away the young Brazilian’s nervousness. “When you meet your idols, you think they are untouchable, not normal people,” says Fonseca. “But when I met him he was completely normal – a really good guy, like everyone says. He was very attentive and asked how things were in Brazil. What it’s like to live there and be so far from home on tour. It was a good conversation, just short, five or ten minutes. But for me it was a big moment.”
As far as his marketing was concerned, Fonseca turned down his idol. Or more precisely: the management company Team8, which Federer runs with his agent Tony Godsick. It is important for Fonseca to specify: “We simply didn’t want a foreign agent yet. Now a family member is taking care of it. When you sign with an agency, it’s a big deal. We weren’t ready for that yet.”
The course of events probably proved Fonseca right. The Federer agency is increasingly concentrating on marketing and organizing the Laver Cup, which will take place in London in 2026. This year, Coco Gauff, the highest-earning tennis player according to Forbes with annual earnings of $37.2 million, and Ben Shelton, the two stars, left the boutique agency. Federer wasn’t angry with him, Shelton said in Basel.
João Fonseca no longer complains of homesickness
While Fonseca used to complain about being homesick, he has now gotten used to life on tour far from home. «Of course I miss Brazil and my parents. But that’s my job now. And I like traveling around the world.” He started the season at number 145, but is now ranked 46th and, together with the American Learner Tien (ATP 38), who is the same age, is the only teenager in the top 100.
Fonseca is in Basel for the first time these days and says he feels the aura of Federer, the ten-time winner, in the hall. That seems to inspire him: he struck straight away at the start Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, last year’s champion. If his flair for Federer ensures that he can be seen in the St. Jakobshalle in the coming years, it certainly wouldn’t bother the organizers.
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