Fonseca after climbing 500 spots in six months: ‘Tennis is about steps’

How far can Joao Fonseca’s upward trajectory take him in 2024?

At just 17 years old, the #NextGenATP Brazilian has announced himself on the ATP Tour with a series of impressive performances across the past six months. He has reached two tour-level quarter-finals, including one on home soil in Rio de Janeiro, and climbed a remarkable 513 spots in the PIF ATP Rankings since 1 January. His rise has been so rapid that Fonseca has barely had time to calibrate it against any expectations he may have had for his first few months as a pro.

“I was really not thinking about it,” the Brazilian told ATPTour.com on Monday in Halle, when asked if he had set himself a ranking target at the start of the year. “After Rio, where I made the quarters, I jumped from 600 to 300. So it was a really big jump.”

_{^{Fonseca during his quarter-final run in February in Rio de Janeiro. Photo Credit: Rio Open.}}

Fonseca has excelled whenever offered the chance to compete at the top level. As a wild card, he reached the quarter-finals in Rio and Bucharest and the second round on his ATP Masters 1000 debut in Madrid. The Brazilian is eager to take advantage of another wild card opportunity this week at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, but that does not mean he will be feeling extra stress once he steps on court.

“I think when we have this kind of opportunity, you don't have any pressure,” said Fonseca, who will play his maiden tour-level match on grass against James Duckworth at the German ATP 500. “You just need to enjoy, and this is what I did in Rio. I was like No. 600 and I was playing guys from the Top 100.

“I just play tennis, play for fun. I was in Rio with all my family watching, and here it will be the same. I will just enjoy. Obviously, I want to win as many matches as I can but it's just to enjoy, appreciate this place and enjoy the opportunity that I have.”

Now at a career-high No. 217 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Fonseca remains determined to take everything in his stride. The 17-year-old, whose tennis idol is Roger Federer and who grew up only 10 minutes from the site of the Rio Open presented by Claro, is well aware of the need to be patient as he tries to fulfil his undoubted potential.

“I'd say tennis is about steps, so it's important to play tournaments on the Challenger Tour to get a bit more experience,” said Fonseca, who is 11-8 at that level so far this year. “Obviously, I wanted to go as fast as I could to the ATP Tour, but it's step by step. After Rio and after Bucharest, I made a real big jump. It's really nice and I’ve seen my expectations go faster than I could imagine. Now, step by step, I am trying to enter the ATP Tour. That is where I want to be.”

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The highlights of Fonseca’s junior career came only late last year, when he won the 2023 US Open boys’ singles title to become the No. 1-ranked junior in the world. Nine months later, the Brazilian is preparing to compete in his sixth tour-level event while occupying sixth place in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah. If he can qualify for the season-ending Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, he would be the first Brazilian to do so in event history.

“I think everything started after the US Open, where I won the junior title,” reflected Fonseca. “It gave me more confidence to start this year, and to start on the pro tour, finishing my junior career by becoming No. 1. I started playing more Challengers, and it was different for me. I was just playing tennis, because I didn't have enough maturity to play those kinds of experienced players that already played a lot of Challengers.

“It was different for me. I'm very happy the way that I managed to evolve, not just in my technique and physically, but also my maturity. So I think I did really well this couple of months, and I hope to still get a lot of progress during this this year.”

While his biggest successes so far have come on clay, Fonseca notched his first two ATP Challenger Tour wins on grass across the past two weeks in Surbiton and Nottingham, respectively. He is a relative novice on the surface, but views playing on it as another beneficial challenge on his path to the top.

“I played on grass in 2022 and 2023, both in juniors,” recalled Fonseca. “I think it's very different to play the grass with pros to with juniors. It's such a different level, but last year I did good on grass. I won a tournament and made the quarters of junior Wimbledon.

“This year, I think it's very important for me, for my game, to play this season on grass. It helps me to play more aggressively and go to the net. You need to give more importance to your serve, because your serve is your best weapon on a grass court. Those types of things, these little things, are very important for my process.”