João Fonseca Is The Next Must Watch Tennis Player In The World And Needs To Be On Your Radar
Francois Nel. Getty Images.Bonjour. I've tossed my Twitter fingers aside for the time being, I'm a Blogger Boy for the day. Liam Bloggerman? Kinda hate that, whatever. Liam Blogman? Idk who cares. Today I want… no I NEED to preach the gospel of tennis and hone in on one particular player. Why? Because nobody else in America is taking the necessary steps to grow the game so I might as well try. Read my words, straight from the heart and brain of a new and true lover of the game.
The future of men's tennis is in good hands, neglect what the haters say. We have Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner leading the charge with brilliant play and incredibly bright futures. We have guys like Ben Shelton, Jack Draper, Holger Rune, Arthur Fils, Lorenzo Musetti, Flavio Cobolli, Giovani Mpetshi Perricard, Jiri Lehecka, and plenty more who are young, established talents and looking to breakout in bigger ways. But what about the crop of talent that's following those guys up? The U20 movement which features Jakub Mensik, Jerry Shang, Nisesh Basavareddy, Learner Tien, Martin Landaluce, Nicolai Budkov Kjaer and a whole lot more that I'll refrain from rambling on about because this is a blog and you're here for one guy: João Fonseca.
Admittedly, Fonseca flew onto my radar in 2023 when I checked to see who Roger Federer and his brand On had deals with. I saw Fonseca's name and looked into him because I had no idea who he was. Turns out, at the time he was a 17 year old with a brand deal from the company that his idol helps run, pretty cool. He had won the 2023 Junior US Open in three sets over the aforementioned Tien. And he was strongly considering going to college to play at Virginia… The only time I've ever been happier someone checked out of college is when I dropped out of JuCo three credits short. Nonetheless we can all thank one man for Fonseca pursuing the pros, Jannik Sinner. At the 2023 ATP Finals in Turin, the now 18 year old Fonseca was there and had the opportunity to be Sinner's hitting partner. As the two were talking Jannik asked him if he's going to university and quickly stated, "You are too good for this, go to the pros."
Back in February of 2024, the Rio de Janeiro native put Arthur Fils in a body bag with a 6-0 6-4 victory in his home town and that's the moment everyone should've realized… João Fonseca is the real deal. He's going to be a nightmare.
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Since that match, I've been watching intently and hardly ever miss a match. What Hubbs is to Alcaraz, I am to Fonseca. Remember folks, I didn't get into tennis until the summer of 2022, I'm still fresh to this game and I've found my chosen one. But I'm no selfish guy, never have been and surely never will be. This phenomenal sport of tennis deserves to grow in the United States and I'll try my best to help it skyrocket. You can really grow attached to this sport by closely following one player as you witness the peaks and valleys of this sport. So I highly recommend that some of you make the dive into the tennis scene by watching João. He's the complete package.
The court coverage and relentless defensive skills of Carlos Alcaraz. His speed is there too but nobody can touch Carlos in that aspect. The two share that never say die, every point is alive as long as I'm on the court mentality. The groundstrokes and popping forehand radiating such precision and power akin to Jannik Sinner. The depth on his shots are so perfect it's sickening. A promising serve that's only going to get better… My goodness his entire all-around game is only going to get better and better and better. He'll make your jaw drop plenty throughout a match and Fonseca pairs it all with a big smile. He's got the mannerisms of a guy who exudes tremendous confidence and belief in himself, a guy who knows he's the man and destined for greatness in this sport. So much swagger it's frightening for the opposition. The kid is just so dang good and LEVELS beyond where an 18 year old should be in this sport or any sport for that matter.
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Fonseca is already building a cult following and I want you to consider being a part of it. Now is the time to get in before it's too late and he truly blows up. Watch his final Australian Open Qualifier match and make sure to watch him when he gets into the main draw. You're guaranteed to have a moment of realization that this kid is an outrageous talent… and just know that this is only scratching the surface level of what he will be.
Fonseca joined Sinner as the only Next Gen Finals Champs to win their next tournament, João did that without dropping a set and defeated three strong up and coming talents along the way. I'd be foolish if I didn't mention that almost all of his best moments thus far have come on hard courts and indoor hard… his best surface is clay.
I'm predicting world dominance and superstardom for João Fonseca. I see the Carlos Alcaraz like breakout coming in 2024, I see a slam title being won before he turns 20, I know for a fact that he'll be the World No. 1 one day. I won't be super safe and say he'll win a few slams, instead I'll say he gets double digits. I'm swinging for the fences, I ain't no coward.
The terms: "Special" and "Generational" get thrown around loosely these days, in this case they are valid. Oh so very valid.
Tennis is an amazing sport and we have another world class talent on our hands that is not too far away from joining Carlos and Jannik… we have another Big Three on the horizon.
Please consider watching tennis, you will not regret it. Thank you for reading, have a nice day and good year.