Joao Fonseca is just 18 years old, but the Brazilian can already unabashedly lay claim to being a star of the tennis world. At No. 65 in the ATP Rankings, one of the brightest promises of world tennis touches down in the Spanish capital all set to continue his meteoric rise. He shrinks from distractions or comparisons, but has plenty of ambition and an expectation of greater things to come.<\/p>\n
Although his name has been whispered in the locker rooms for some time now, his emergence onto the professional tour early in 2025 exceeded everyone\u2019s expectations. At the Australian Open he came through qualifying and took down a certain Andrey Rublev in a round-one thriller. A few weeks later he claimed his first ATP title in Buenos Aires at just 18 years of age. More recently, in Miami he exhibited a connection with the fans that few other players enjoy. Add to that two Challenger titles and his continuing climb up the rankings \u2013 he started the year at No. 145 and is now just two wins away from the Top 50 \u2013 and it is quite the cocktail.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy strength is my mindset and my forehand. I look at my friends in Brazil and I\u2019m the only one that already has a job. I say it\u2019s a job because I travel all year, but I actually really enjoy tennis. I have the mindset to enjoy and learn new things\u201d, said the Brazilian in the Caja Magica, where last year he reached the second round after receiving an invitation from the tournament.<\/p>\n
At this year\u2019s Mutua Madrid Open, Fonseca will play his opener in the main draw against qualifier Elmer Moller of Denmark, No.114 in the ATP Ranking. To some it may seem strange that a match between numbers 65 and 114 in the world ranking would be held in the Manolo Santana Stadium, the biggest and most important in Madrid. But those that are more familiar with Fonseca will no doubt understand; the Brazilian is a box of fireworks and he thumps the ball around the court like very few others.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s natural. I\u2019ve liked attacking the ball since I was little and hitting winners. When I was 11 or 12, there was no way I would let a ball go past me. I hit a lot into the net and then I got more consistent. But my mindset is still the same. It\u2019s my essence and I won\u2019t stop that. In big points I will keep hitting it hard. It\u2019s a personal trait of mine\u201d, said the player, with something of a warning shot for his opponents this week, starting with Moller. If he beats the Dane, the Brazilian will cross paths with none other than the American Tommy Paul, the eleventh seed in the Caja Magica.<\/p>\n
Fonseca is the poster-boy of this new generation, which is chomping at the bit to give the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune a run for their money. Brazilian tennis must be licking its chops, it has been waiting for another international superstar ever since Gustavo Kuerten hung up his racket. However, Fonseca would rather not hear the name of the three-time French Open champion. Every time he does, he can feel the pressure. \u2018Guga\u2019 casts a long shadow.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they say I\u2019m going to be the next Guga, I don\u2019t really like the comparisons. Everyone has their own story and can win different things. I don\u2019t want to be the next Guga, I want to be Joao Fonseca. I hope I can do something close to what he did, but I\u2019m working hard to write my own story\u201d. We hear you Joao.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Joao Fonseca is just 18 years old, but the Brazilian can already unabashedly lay claim to being a star of the tennis world. At No. 65 in the ATP Rankings, one of the brightest promises of world tennis touches down in the Spanish capital all set to continue his meteoric rise. He shrinks from distractions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":101033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[838,824],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-noticias-tenis-masculino-en","category-noticias-mutua-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101073"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101074,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101073\/revisions\/101074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}