Fonseca's talent so obvious at 2, even the yoga instructor noticed

Of all people, a Brazilian yoga teacher can proudly claim that he was one of the first to recognise Joao Fonseca's natural athletic ability.

The room inside the Fonseca’s house which is now an office was once an exercise space, where the #NextGenATP star’s father, Christiano, practised jiu-jitsu and had in-home yoga lessons. Meanwhile, a two-year-old Joao would be playing with a ball, as any toddler enjoys. But this was different. The coordination came easy. The reaction time was impressively quick. It was in that same exercise room where Joao and his father began playing mini-tennis matches.

“We made a little net in the middle and I played with my father a lot,” Fonseca told ATPTour.com. “My dad would play a match to 10 and it would be 9/3 and he would make it 9/9, and then sometimes he made me win and other times he would make it 11/9, a win for him. And I cried, I remember.”

Now 17 and one of the fastest-rising names in tennis, Fonseca, who last week won his first ATP Challenger Tour title, grew up a multi-sport athlete, playing soccer and tennis while also participating in jiu-jitsu and judo. It did not take long for the Fonsecas to realise that their son had potential.

“When he was two, we were like, 'This boy is different,’” Christiano said. “I remember that my yoga teacher came here and he started playing with the ball with Joao and he said to me, 'This boy is different. He has much more reflexes and coordination than the average.' Very young, we knew he was different.”

Joao Fonseca (far left) attends the ATP 500 event in Rio de Janeiro as a child. Credit: Fonseca family

From ages eight to 11, Fonseca practised for one hour a day, but that did not fully satisfy his tennis hunger. After practice, he went directly to hit against a wall or to ask his parents to join him for more play.

“In the first tournament that we took him to, he was maybe nine,” Roberta recalled. “All the tournaments were during the weekends so we said, 'Choose one tournament to go to, because we can't go all the weekends.' He chose one tournament and he lost — I don’t remember — the second match.

“He came out to the car and said, 'Oh please, I'd like to go to another one! Next week!' He just lost his match and he asked us for the next tournament, because he wants to play again. He loves to compete. I think that's his motivation.”

Some of the family's fondest memories came at their mountain vacation home, where they have a tennis court, from which Joao could not be pulled away.

“I remember all the time he was asking somebody to go to the court with him, 'Please, let's go to the court! Let's go to the court!'” Christiano said. “He didn't carry the racquet. He was just dragging the racquet because it was big for him. It was funny.”

Fonseca formed an immediate bond with coach Guilherme Teixeira at age 12. The teen not only looks to Teixeira for tennis guidance, but also considers him a second father and best friend.

Sixth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, Fonseca accelerated to new heights last year when he and Teixeira made a tournament agreement — during the US Open boys’ singles event — that has since stuck.

“I stay only with WhatsApp. Only familiar people, good friends I try to answer on WhatsApp. Instagram, I can’t have my Instagram before a match and after a match,” Fonseca said of his distraction-less approach. “So when I start a tournament, I barely see my Instagram. More of my WhatsApp, I need to talk with [my team] sometimes, my family.”

By spending less time on social media, Fonseca saw direct and immediate correlation in his on-court results. The teen went on to capture the junior crown at the US Open. Starting this year at World No. 730 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Fonseca has skyrocketed more than 500 places, hitting a career-high No. 166 on Monday after winning the ATP Challenger Tour 75 event in Lexington, Kentucky.

An emotional Joao Fonseca celebrates winning the 2023 US Open boys' singles title. Credit: Sarah Stier/Getty Images

Fonseca did not drop a set across five matches to become the youngest Brazilian champion in Challenger history (since 1978). And on the five-year anniversary of Jannik Sinner’s triumph at that same event, the Lexington Challenger crowned Fonseca. The Rio de Janeiro native lifted the title just one day younger (17 years, 11 months, 17 days) than the Italian.

Sinner won in Lexington and three months later he emerged victorious at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, the 20-and-under event which Fonseca is aiming to play at for the first time.

“In the ceremony, they gave me the trophy and announced, ‘Lexington is the first Challenger to have three 17-year-old champions. He said, 'Shang Juncheng, Jannik Sinner,'” Fonseca said. “That’s really nice.”

Twenty minutes after making history Sunday, Fonseca kindly took the time to hit with three ballkids at the University of Kentucky’s indoor courts. When Fonseca’s self-imposed phone ban was lifted after collecting the trophy, he read a plethora of congratulatory messages, some from Brazilian surfer Pedro Scooby, Flamengo centre-back Leo Ortiz and former doubles World No. 2 Bruno Soares, among others.

Fans on social media are quick to refer to Fonseca with nicknames such as, ‘Little Sinner’ or ‘Another Guga’, in reference to Gustavo Kuerten, Brazil's lone player to reach World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Through all the praise and promise, Fonseca is focussed on, “just trying to be Joao”.

Joao Fonseca (far right) and a friend meet Gustavo Kuerten. Credit: Fonseca family

Fonseca, the youngest player in the Top 200, is proud of his mental resilience in Lexington. He arrived at the tournament having lost four of his past five matches across all levels. The two-time tour-level quarter-finalist avenged his most recent loss to Gabriel Diallo in the last eight and due to rain earlier in the week, Fonseca returned to court later that day for a semi-final victory.

Celebrating his 18th birthday on 21 August, Fonseca kept his cool when serving out the final, firing his signature inside-in forehand at 15/0. He fell on his back in relief when he clinched the championship, placing his hands over his eyes. Fonseca became the second-youngest player from South America to win a hard-court Challenger, only behind former World No. 3 Juan Martin del Potro.

“The way that I managed to win this tournament, those matches with mental strength and physical strength. I’m really happy to find a way to win those difficult matches against really good players,” Fonseca said.

“Five years from now I’m probably going to say that I’m going to be grateful for me trying to make this mental change so early, at 17. I wanna go to the pro tour and play the big tournaments, but I will be grateful for this week.”

Lexington is where the future shines ?

2019 ? Jannik Sinner
2024 ? Joao Fonseca#OnTheRise | @atptour pic.twitter.com/WmB84yK0Pi