Ever since he first picked up a tennis racket, João Fonseca has shown a penchant for power – even if it came with mixed results.
“I was the kind of kid that destroyed the ball,” says Fonseca. “Sometimes, it would go into the fence; sometimes, it would go straight to the floor; and then, sometimes, we’re doing a winner.”
That approach – fearless, furious and unrestrained – has stayed with the Brazilian into his professional career, and today, his ripping forehand is one of the most breathtaking sights in men’s tennis.
Few players can match the 19-year-old Fonseca when it comes to raw power, particularly on the forehand wing. This not-so-subtle, not-so-secret weapon has guided him to two ATP Tour titles this year, including in the Swiss city of Basel last week.
There, Fonseca thumped 29 winners to see off Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final, while his average forehand speed was clocked at 81 miles per hour. For comparison, top players usually average around 75.
“I think my coach was really the first one that said: ‘Keep with this aggression,’” Fonseca tells CNN Sports about his all-out approach. “‘Keep doing this, but at the same time, let’s work with being more solid.’
“During these last years, I understood that you can’t hit the ball hard every time … Sometimes, it’s a stupid idea, of course, but sometimes, it’s good to be aggressive, to be courageous and have confidence in your shots.”
Lifting the title in Basel saw Fonseca become the third-youngest ATP 500 winner since the format was introduced in 2009, as well as the tournament’s youngest winner since Jim Courier in 1989.
Still a teenager, Fonseca’s potential is huge, his freakish power likely to become more of a threat as he develops and refines his game. To some, he is destined to join Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner – by far and away the standout players in men’s tennis this year – at the very top of the game.
“The Brazilian Blaster (Fonseca) is a generational talent as I said 2 years ago and will be right there someday with the Italian Flamethrower (Sinner) and Spanish Magician (Alcaraz),” Rick Macci, the former coach to Serena Williams, wrote on X recently.
Those players, Macci added, will “create a new big three” to replace Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Davidovich Fokina spoke along the same lines during his runner-up speech in Basel, telling Fonseca that he is “for sure going to be the next Nole (Djokovic) to beat Carlos and Jannik.”
After winning last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals title – a tournament featuring the world’s best players under 20 – Fonseca turned heads at the Australian Open in January with a straight-sets victory over ninth seed Andrey Rublev.
He followed that up by winning the Argentina Open a month later, becoming the second-youngest South American to win an ATP title in the Open Era.
But Fonseca’s progress hasn’t been exponential. He failed to progress past the third round of a grand slam this year, perhaps a surprise after the enormous promise he showed at the start of the season.
The victory in Basel, however, reaffirmed his status as one of the most explosive talents in the game, with Fonseca climbing 18 spots up the rankings to No. 28. That puts him well on track to fulfill his self-ascribed objectives for next year.
“I think one of my goals is to be a seed, top 32 (at a grand slam),” says Fonseca. “It’s my personal goal. I’m working a lot to do it … let’s see how it goes.”
To get to this level, Fonseca had to spend his formative years building a bond with tennis. As a young player, the game would make him feel restless, and he often found himself chasing big, haymaking shots on the court. He was even more impatient off it, unable to watch a full match without losing interest.
That changed around 2019, when Fonseca sat absorbed as Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer in a Wimbledon final lasting four hours and 57 minutes – the longest final in the tournament’s history.
A self-proclaimed Federer superfan, that match hurt Fonseca. As he started to enjoy tennis as a spectator, he would often watch the “Big 3” play out match after memorable match on the sport’s biggest stages, but it was the Swiss star who captivated him the most.
“He’s my idol,” Fonseca confesses. Which goes some way to explaining why he suddenly found himself a sweaty, nervous wreck before meeting Federer for the first time in September.
“We had a nice chat, about 10 minutes, and we talked a little bit about life, tour, how it is to live in Brazil and be far from home,” says Fonseca, adding: “He’s a super nice guy. You see these amazing players, these legends, as untouchable (and think): this guy is different. But no, he’s just a human being like us, super cool.
“It was a very important moment; it’s going to be in my mind for my whole life.”
It’s likely that the two might cross paths again, particularly given that Fonseca is sponsored by On – the sportswear company in which Federer has invested and helped with product development. The Brazilian was only 16 when he was signed by On and earmarked as a star in the making, joining a roster that includes six-time grand slam winner Iga Świątek and world No. 7 Ben Shelton.
Several years earlier, Fonseca had made the decision to focus his sporting endeavors solely on tennis, not long after a soccer injury had left him sidelined for months.
Like most kids growing up in Rio de Janeiro, soccer was, and still is, one of his great loves, even though his playing days have long since passed.
“I was a good level,” says Fonseca. “I’m a lefty leg, I had some skills, but nothing serious. I wouldn’t be professional or whatever. Fortunately, I stayed with tennis.”
After reaching the quarterfinals of last year’s Rio Open aged 17, Fonseca decided to forego his college eligibility – he was holding a place at the University of Virginia – and turn professional.
Since then, his march up the world rankings has been steady, quickly earning him an army of dedicated fans. Fonseca’s matches are some of the loudest on tour, and regardless of whether he’s playing in Brazil or further afield, yellow-and-green-clad spectators are guaranteed whenever he’s on a tennis court.
It’s taken time, Fonseca admits, to grow accustomed to playing in front of such raucous crowds.
“At the beginning, I was super nervous,” he says. “I needed to win, and there are people watching me, there are people cheering for me. The culture of Brazil is super loud, a lot of people supporting, I’ll say a little bit because of football.
“I got used a lot to the crowd. Nowadays, I love playing with the crowd. I love them supporting me. I love that sometimes I’m in a bad situation in the match and they’re still supporting me, still cheering and motivating me.
“I was more like a shy guy,” he adds, “and now I’m loving it.”
Playing in loud matches at big tournaments is likely to be a mainstay of Fonseca’s career. He is slowly accumulating more experience against the world’s best players but hasn’t yet faced Djokovic – he’s hopeful of doing so before the Serb, now 38, retires – nor has he played either Alcaraz or Sinner.
Those kinds of matches might become a regular occurrence should Fonseca, armed with that ferocious forehand, continue his march up the rankings. For now, he is watching closely as two players just a few years his senior rule over men’s tennis, sharing the past eight grand slams equally between them.
One day, Fonseca might be in a position to challenge their duopoly.
“What they’re doing is amazing,” he says of Alcaraz and Sinner. “They’re winning every tournament that they play.
“They motivate all the other players to put more work in day by day, and try to be with them, try to win more tournaments, try to win matches, be more consistent. Hopefully, in the future, I will be with them, playing and competing in finals. But one step at a time, and let’s put in the work.”
