João Fonseca News

[BeatlesFan]

It's time for an official news thread for the 17 year old Brazilian João Fonseca. He's currently ranked #215 but has a very bright future.

As always, news threads are restricted to fans of Fonseca or posting news about him, no trolling allowed or the post will be reported and removed.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Fonseca lost in the second round of Wimbledon qualify to Spaniard Moro Canas, 6-7 in the third. He said he's only played on grass a few times in his life and "it takes a little while to adjust to this surface."

 

[TennisBro]

He's currently ranked #215 but has a very bright future.

Amazing now for I know that he's been 1,200th ranked in March when I saw him on the Qualies Acceptance List to one of the M25 Futures tournaments in Brazil. But it's a bit easier to jump from 1,000 ATP ranking spot to 200th than it is from 200th to 100th ATP ranking spot. Let's see how this incredible youngster copes with the speed of the game and physical and mental challenges that come with it on the level of 250s and 500s.

 

[augustobt]

I can’t wait to see how he evolves. I’m sure he’ll be a top 5 contender in the future. His groundstrokes are super powerful on both sides, and he really reminds me of a young Sinner. Right now, he needs to work on his shot selection during rallies, but that’s something he can definitely improve with more matches. With his talent and hard work, I know he’s going to keep getting better. Exciting times are ahead for this promising player, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what he’ll achieve!

 

[BeatlesFan]

 

[Nostradamus]

is he any good ?

 

[BeatlesFan]

is he any good ?

Judge for yourself. Remember he's only 17 and has to develop physically, but he's very talented and has great future marketability across the world. He speaks fluent English and has a lot of flair. Tennis hasn't had a great Brazilian player since Guga.

 

[Nostradamus]

Judge for yourself. Remember he's only 17 and has to develop physically, but he's very talented and has great future marketability across the world. He speaks fluent English and has a lot of flair. Tennis hasn't had a great Brazilian player since Guga.

maybe he wants to play in NCAA for a year then turn pro ?

 

[Rafa the King]

Very enjoyable player. I might join the bandwagon whenever Rafa retires.

 

[Rafa4LifeEver]

I liked the way he beat the annoying grunter Sonego a few months ago.

 

[ojo rojo]

João (the Fons) Fonseca probably thinks grass is for futbol just now but that's better than moast other 17 year olds, who probably think it's for smoking.

 

[GRASScaraz]

Fonseca on hard court should be interesting. On grass he didn't have time to set up his shots properly

 

[Deleted member 806402]

Thank you for making this thread. I'm excited to see what brands of tennis he'll produce as he learns to tap into his full potential.

 

[GRASScaraz]

Is Top 100 by end of year possible?

 

[BeatlesFan]

Thank you for making this thread. I'm excited to see what brands of tennis he'll produce as he learns to tap into his full potential.

The credit goes to you, @Nuclear Warhead Sinner, for being the main person to open up my eyes to the potential of Fonseca. I'm really excited to see him develop and (hopefully) realize his tremendous potential. To me he's already a combination of Carlos and Sinner. He has the firepower of Sinner with the touch, volleys and variety of Alcaraz. If he gets the proper coaching and additional development, the sky's the limit for him.

 

[KantenKlaar]

Definitely worth watching.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Is Top 100 by end of year possible?

It will depend if he gets through enough qualifying draws and if he gets some WC's into some 250's or possibly even a 500. Halle did give him a WC. Fonseca is still playing mostly Challengers. He has racked up an 12-8 record this year at that level. He has a modest 5-5 ATP Tour record in 2024, including QF runs as a WC in Rio and then in Bucharest.

Fonseca has climbed 513 places in the rankings since January, but top 100 by December might be an overly optimistic goal.

 

[ojo rojo]

. If he gets the proper coaching and additional development, the sky's the limit for him.

 

[BeatlesFan]

I doubt Muzz will be coaching in his retirement unless it's British juniors. I'd give anything if Fonseca could get Magnus Norman as his coach, but he's bogged down with his tennis Academy. I don't think he even travels much with Stan anymore.

 

[TennisBro]

maybe he wants to play in NCAA for a year then turn pro ?

Why would you demote a first league player that's earned his spot to the second league? Because he is too young? Or, because he needs to study first before turning pro? He's a pro already and top 200 in the world now. I think that'd be a loss for the tennis world to have him go down to the NCAA now but if Joao's better at something else than tennis, then I'd take what I've just said back.

 

[The Guru]

I doubt Muzz will be coaching in his retirement unless it's British juniors. I'd give anything if Fonseca could get Magnus Norman as his coach, but he's bogged down with his tennis Academy. I don't think he even travels much with Stan anymore.

Seems like no tennis greats are coaching right now which is a real bummer. Lendl said it best tennis coaching is most about helping players navigate pressure and maintain routines and the people who are able to do that best are the people who've done it. It's part of why I think JCF is such a good coach for Carlos. Not that long ago we had Becker, Lendl, Edberg, Goran, Agassi, Moya, Chang, and even Johnny Mac with Raonic for a bit all coaching. Now we have all these ****ty parent coaches and it's hindering development. Look at what having Hewitt has done for ADM imagine where Zverev could've been if he kept Lendl on board.

I hope Fonseca can get Guga on board or maybe even JMDP now that he's retired because having a champion in his corner would be huge.

 

[TennisBro]

Now we have all these ****ty parent coaches and it's hindering development. Look at what having Hewitt has done for ADM imagine where Zverev could've been if he kept Lendl on board.

My 15-year-old son's on tour of ITF Juniors and Futures on his own. Crazy, right? One reason why I send him alone is exactly what you are saying there; the HINDERANCE. Yet, I must say that the extreme costs when paying double for flights, more for hotel rooms and then the food on tour is just too much when one's traveling more often, or all the time. In a nutshell, the costs may drive those lower ranked players on tour alone and higher ranked players concerned whether it is necessary to spend the big bucks or not. EU and NA's nuts when it comes to costs of services, hotel/uber/food costs are through the roof.

 

[Nostradamus]

Why would you demote a first league player that's earned his spot to the second league? Because he is too young? Or, because he needs to study first before turning pro? He's a pro already and top 200 in the world now. I think that'd be a loss for the tennis world to have him go down to the NCAA now but if Joao's better at something else than tennis, then I'd take what I've just said back.

maybe he can play for stanford for a year then he can be even better player when he comes back to the tour

 

[TennisBro]

maybe he can play for stanford for a year then he can be even better player when he comes back to the tour

So, you think that Joao can grow his game for one whole year better with the lower level players than him? I really don't think that Alcaraz would've been where he is today, had he followed your suggestion. 16-19 is a crucial age for pro tennis players. If you tamper within that age with the development of a prospective pro player, you'll never be able to fix your mistakes later on.

 

[BeatlesFan]

maybe he can play for stanford for a year then he can be even better player when he comes back to the tour

I realize this was said in levity, but Fonseca has explained why he's patient at age 17:

“I'd say tennis is about steps, so it's important to play tournaments on the Challenger Tour to get a bit more experience. Obviously, I want 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.”

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/fonseca-halle-2024-feature

 

[guilhermefdc]

He can't compete on NCAA anymore as he's already accepted prize money on the ATP Tour (i.e. he is a pro)

 

[TennisBro]

He can't compete on NCAA anymore as he's already accepted prize money on the ATP Tour (i.e. he is a pro)

Are you serious? Is that a rule? My 15-year-old son's got price money from Futures and it's documented in his ATP account now. Does that mean that my boy is not eligible to play NCAA too?

 

[guilhermefdc]

Are you serious? Is that a rule? My 15-year-old son's got price money from Futures and it's documented in his ATP account now. Does that mean that my boy is not eligible to play NCAA too?

If it’s more than 10K in a single calendar year or if it’s more than needed to pay for expenses, yes.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/eligibility_center/ECMIP/Amateurism_Certification/Amat_Tennis.pdf

Fiona Crawley had to forfeit her 2023 US Open prize money, just like Fonseca delayed receiving his Rio Open prize money until after he made the decision to go pro: https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/colle...-explains-decision-forfeit/story?id=102929858

 

[Shaolin]

Are you serious? Is that a rule? My 15-year-old son's got price money from Futures and it's documented in his ATP account now. Does that mean that my boy is not eligible to play NCAA too?

Obviously, Cruz Hewitt is overhyped and excessively paid attention to in the media. My 15-year-old son's participated in the same junior ITF tournament as Cruz and played against Cruz in doubles finals recently. Cruz lost in quarters of singles in a weak performance there too. Lleyton shouldn't allow the hype as his son is just as good as a whole bunch of other 15-year-old juniors in the ITF. On the topic of clay and Cruz Hewitt, just have a look at this boy's achievements and where he's got his ranking points from. You'll see that all of his singles points counted in juniors come from hard courts, not clay at all. His clay court record is 1:2 in junior ITF and in Futures it's all about hard court only where he's just played qualifying rounds. So, how can they hype clay already?

My 15-year-old son just played in M15 Antalya; great place, hotel and food so he said. I paid 90 Euros per night, all inclusive. He could well practice on the clay courts before and after his matches too. However, signing my son to some J100s, J200s, J300s or J500s in junior ITF, I see the hotel is paid for.

With or without an umpire, such situations are not uncommon in ITF/junior ITF Futures. When my 15-year-old son played in a J60 junior ITF tournament's final (hard court) and called the service ball out about 2-3 seconds later, he was told his call was too late and that the ball was on the line. When he asked the umpire to come check the print that was out there, this ITF official refused to get up from his chair. That very ball was my son's set point in the tiebreaker of the second set which was his life-line as he lost the first set; he went on losing the next tree balls in frustration and so the whole match then. This was in Africa with a hot noon time and the last match of the whole tournament and it looked like the umpire just wanted to finish and go home.

I teach my son to be prepared for such situations and not lose his cool. Whether it is possible to keep it all together or not is another thing. Those kinds of moments are extremely tough; decisions to call the balls instantly out or not may be as demanding. When tournaments don't have contingencies for such situations, things can get out of hands. I've seen people physically fight with officials on the international tour too. I've heard/seen recordings of juniors making the umpires look absolutely foolish before. So, this isn't just the USTA that may be having such issues.

About a couple months ago, I signed my 15-year-old junior ITF son into one of the M25s in Brazil and saw Joao Fonseca in the Acceptance List qualies ranked 1000th in the ATP. I warned my son, he'd probably get Joao in the first round qualies there. Scared we withdrew from the Acceptance List before deadline

A few days later this fine young Brazilian withdrew as well but resurfaced in quarterfinals of 500 Rio. We were stunned to see how high his level was there. My son would've been so embarrassed having to play this young monstrous junior.

Today, Joao Fonseca's moved up about 700 ranking spots and that's gonna be by next week probably a bit more than that. Isn't Joao Fonseca the fastest junior mover of the ATP rankings in the last decade or what?

Oh man! I don't just follow but live through it. I spend enormous amounts of money on my 15-year-old World Junior ITF/M15 and M25 Futures son, so take my words as first hand experiences right from the courts of those tournaments. People do care about the sport but there's always some filthy snake oil salesman lurking. My son's under no sponsors' agreements but mine which is why I am financially bleeding. But I can still make those decisions what he does or buys, where he goes or who he trains with or plays against. If I were offered a chance to have my son play an ATP Challenger, I'd only agree to Qualies WC, not Main Draw for I well know his level or how counter-productive it would be playing someone too much above him. So, whether Darwin Blanch, his coaching/ITF/IMG staff, sponsors or parents have had anything to do with the decision to apply for/accept the Main Draw Madrid Masters WC risking the fine young boy's embarrassment may be in the secrets of those mentioned; why they haven't followed Futures and Challengers accordingly is also in the minds of those that I have pointed to. At the end of all this, I see you may be right that squeezing every possible dollar out of young Darwin Blanch's life is the objective.

As for the news that I may not have followed, I'd say Darwin Blanch's older brother lowly ATP player may have been pushed similarly to the way Darwin is being now. Others come to my mind like for instance Leo Borg who's at 400 ATP ranking spot today; and, there may be quite a few more examples of such, although there also are some great ones like Rafa or Llayton Hewitt who bloomed right of their diapers. My thought's that following the news may actually be hurtful to the development of the prospects.

The balls issue will most likely not change at all. Tennis ball producers are sponsors and a business to tournaments and the ITF, I suppose. My 15-year-old son plays a lot of Junior ITF and Futures and he has to play with different balls everywhere. Some tournaments use really ****ty balls but there's nothing we can do about that.

I think there's a way to prepare for those ****t balls; I train my son with soaked balls straight out of the bucket full of water. Don't misunderstant! I just feed him those balls in a few drills on and off for the right feeling later. I strongly believe that this is a way to prepare for/avoid arm stress later.

Didn't work for me today for the tournament in M15 Karuizawa, Japan. Apparently, those Japanese organizers have no umpires for the main draw singles and doubles matches which is why there are no live scores on the ITF or any other sites. My 15-year-old son just finished his main draw singles match, called me and told me that the players call their games; ridiculous for matches that count towards ATP ranking points. My son's lost on a super tiebreak-3-ball difference (2:6, 6:4 and 7:10). According to my son, the 29-year-old 680 ATP ranked Japanese player lied about a few crucial balls that my son says fell right on the line there. I can't tell who's right as I am a few thousand miles away but can imagine the issue when organizers allow players to make their own decisions in professional tournament where money and ATP ranking points are awarded.

Yes, we get it already. You can just say your son at this point. Everyone here knows he's 15 and the worlds best junior.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Are you serious? Is that a rule? My 15-year-old son's got price money from Futures and it's documented in his ATP account now. Does that mean that my boy is not eligible to play NCAA too?

This is a fan thread for Fonseca, not your son. Content is restricted to news on Fonseca or comments relating to him. Your content might be relevant on another sub forum but not here, thanks.

 

[TennisBro]

Well, this is interesting. I really thought I stuck to the topic, even though I brought my son into the discussion. @Shaolin has only pasted and copied my posts from other threads in which I tried to related to the topics as well.

Your content might be relevant on another sub forum but not here, thanks.

What I've written here on this thread, that by the way does not belong to you but to the TTW, is not nearly as insulting as is Shaolin's and your approach to fellow users. When you post a thread about Fonseca on a public forum, you should know it may correlate with more than just what YOU think it may relate to. Then, taking a side of another user who's just pasted and copied postings from other threads to attack me while communicating nothing else on Fonseca at all is just vicious from you, the OP who says that all posts should be related to Fonseca or else. I don't remember ever attacking any of you two on any TTW discussions. Pretty sad!

 

[TennisBro]

If it’s more than 10K in a single calendar year or if it’s more than needed to pay for expenses, yes.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/eligibility_center/ECMIP/Amateurism_Certification/Amat_Tennis.pdf

Fiona Crawley had to forfeit her 2023 US Open prize money, just like Fonseca delayed receiving his Rio Open prize money until after he made the decision to go pro: https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/colle...-explains-decision-forfeit/story?id=102929858

Thank you for not being rude like the two other ones that want this debate to be who knows what. The 10K is little money for a player on the tour; the expenses of players on tour may be quite difficult to estimate. Fonseca had made money in Futures before Rio. But I see how your notion that there's a limit to the prize money and to Joao's inability to play in American College Tennis makes sense there. What you just said about Rio prize money collected later may as well be one of the news the OP could consider. People like us that share the real info on make the forums more authentic and perhaps more helpful too.

 

[Shaolin]

Well, this is interesting. I really thought I stuck to the topic, even though I brought my son into the discussion. @Shaolin has only pasted and copied my posts from other threads in which I tried to related to the topics as well.

What I've written here on this thread, that by the way does not belong to you but to the TTW, is not nearly as insulting as is Shaolin's and your approach to fellow users. When you post a thread about Fonseca on a public forum, you should know it may correlate with more than just what YOU think it may relate to. Then, taking a side of another user who's just pasted and copied postings from other threads to attack me while communicating nothing else on Fonseca at all is just vicious from you, the OP who says that all posts should be related to Fonseca or else. I don't remember ever attacking any of you two on any TTW discussions. Pretty sad!

My point is that you mention your son just about every post you make.

Yeah we get it already. I wish you both luck btw. I played Futures as well, its a tough battle out there to break through.

 

[TennisBro]

What are you on about? "we" who? Have you contributed anything relevant to this thread?

 

[Shaolin]

What are you on about? "we" who? Have you contributed anything relevant to this thread?

''We'' as in myself and most likely others on this forum.

Want something relevant to the thread? You're a coward for pulling your kid out of a tournament just because he was gonna play Fonseca.

How is he going to improve if he's in hiding from every good player along the way? Bagelled or not that would have been a good experience to show him what he's facing in the real world of pro tennis. But yeah, keep pulling out of every tournament bro.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Thank you for not being rude like the two other ones that want this debate to be who knows what. The 10K is little money for a player on the tour; the expenses of players on tour may be quite difficult to estimate. Fonseca had made money in Futures before Rio. But I see how your notion that there's a limit to the prize money and to Joao's inability to play in American College Tennis makes sense there. What you just said about Rio prize money collected later may as well be one of the news the OP could consider. People like us that share the real info on make the forums more authentic and perhaps more helpful too.

To repeat: your posts are utterly irrelevant to this thread. News threads on TTW have specific rules which are clearly stated in the opening post:

As always, news threads are restricted to fans of Fonseca or posting news about him, no trolling allowed or the post will be reported and removed.

None of your content is about Fonseca and thus has no place here. Please contact the mods who will clearly explain that news threads are solely for fans of specific player and not extraneous content. I didn't make up that rule, it's a TTW long-established rule.

 

[TennisBro]

Anything on YOUR topic?

 

[TennisBro]

If it’s more than 10K in a single calendar year or if it’s more than needed to pay for expenses, yes.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/eligibility_center/ECMIP/Amateurism_Certification/Amat_Tennis.pdf

Fiona Crawley had to forfeit her 2023 US Open prize money, just like Fonseca delayed receiving his Rio Open prize money until after he made the decision to go pro: https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/colle...-explains-decision-forfeit/story?id=102929858

Hey, I have just seen the Djokovic-Fearnley match and the commentator talked in length about how Fearnley just finished playing American college tennis; Fearnley apparently is the most recent champion for a Texas uni too. This young British ATP player's like 200th ranked and, accourding to narrator from Wimbledon, Fearnley's just played challengers during his college years. So, being in 200th ATP spot must earn you some money which is contradictive to the rules you have brought in and to what you are saying about Fonseca's necessity to have to be careful about his earnings on ATP tour, if'when he planned to join US college tennis now.

 

[guilhermefdc]

Hey, I have just seen the Djokovic-Fearnley match and the commentator talked in length about how Fearnley just finished playing American college tennis; Fearnley apparently is the most recent champion for a Texas uni too. This young British ATP player's like 200th ranked and, accourding to narrator from Wimbledon, Fearnley's just played challengers during his college years. So, being in 200th ATP spot must earn you some money which is contradictive to the rules you have brought in and to what you are saying about Fonseca's necessity to have to be careful about his earnings on ATP tour, if'when he planned to join US college tennis now.

Fonseca could compete — even in ATP 500s — but he could not accept the prize money.
It was big news around here when he accepted the prize money and went pro: https://ge-globo-com.translate.goog...=pt&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=pt-BR&_x_tr_pto=wapp

 

[TennisBro]

Fonseca could compete — even in ATP 500s — but he could not accept the prize money.
It was big news around here when he accepted the prize money and went pro: https://ge-globo-com.translate.goog...=pt&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=pt-BR&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Yes, I understand that but have a hard time accepting the notion that Joao wouldn't be able to join the American college and its league system for having played in ATP with all that prize money when others like Fearnley have done it. I think we are assuming the reason why Fonseca "could not", or did not firstly, "accept the prize money" of Rio 500 ATP quarters. To my knowledge, junior players over UTR 12 may get a full scholarship well sponsored with all the college tennis perks in the US and all that support may come with conditions...again assuming. The question is-how would Fearnley's case be different from Fonseca's, had Joao accepted an offer from one of the great US colleges with a tennis team? Fearnley sure wasn't as good as Fonseca at 17 but NCAA champion for his Texas uni recently and top 300 ATP player too.

 

[guilhermefdc]

Yes, I understand that but have a hard time accepting the notion that Joao wouldn't be able to join the American college and its league system for having played in ATP with all that prize money when others like Fearnley have done it. I think we are assuming the reason why Fonseca "could not", or did not firstly, "accept the prize money" of Rio 500 ATP quarters. To my knowledge, junior players over UTR 12 may get a full scholarship well sponsored with all the college tennis perks in the US and all that support may come with conditions...again assuming. The question is-how would Fearnley's case be different from Fonseca's, had Joao accepted an offer from one of the great US colleges with a tennis team? Fearnley sure wasn't as good as Fonseca at 17 but NCAA champion for his Texas uni recently and top 300 ATP player too.

He can play anything he wants — he can even win a grand slam, he just can’t accept prize money. Fearnley is just the same as Fonseca.
Also: according to ATP’s site, prior to 2024 Fearnley’s career earnings were ~34K (66 grand total including this year so far), which is likely well within the boundaries of “personal expenses” or whatever it is that NCAA considers.

 

[GRASScaraz]

Fonseca is playing Chicago Challenger on 22nd July then Lexington

 

[guilhermefdc]

Fonseca is playing Chicago Challenger on 22nd July then Lexington

US Open is probably his best shot at debuting on a GS — hoping he can get some wins under his belt and gain some traction

 

[Deleted member 806402]

Fonseca is playing Chicago Challenger on 22nd July then Lexington

I'd like to see him sooner, but I'll let his team cook.

 

[Subway Tennis]

I liked the way he beat the annoying grunter Sonego a few months ago.

Sonego causes a lot of problems on the court. Gruntings, arguments, bad discussions. Rafa stopped him at Wimbledon, Monfils also confronted him during clay season a few years ago.

A lot of the younger players with a more quiet attitude really thrashed Sonego. Sinner did it too. They’re not impressed by the drama queen antics that Sonego does.

 

[Rafa4LifeEver]

Sonego causes a lot of problems on the court. Gruntings, arguments, bad discussions. Rafa stopped him at Wimbledon, Monfils also confronted him during clay season a few years ago.

A lot of the younger players with a more quiet attitude really thrashed Sonego. Sinner did it too. They’re not impressed by the drama queen antics that Sonego does.

Yes, he's been a pain in the @$$ for so long, and continues to be such.
I wonder why doesn't he warrant atleast 3 code violation on court in every match

 

[TennisBro]

How could you two guys misread Fonseca for Sonego?

Time to call on OP, the @BeatlesFan , to regulate this whole discussion better.

 

[Rafa4LifeEver]

How could you two guys misread Fonseca for Sonego?

We were discussing a match where Fonseca beat Sonego, and then merely 1 post about the Italian. So its not at all derailing.

 

[Deleted member 806402]

Joao is back in action at the Chicago Challengers. He's playing against Yuta Shimizu.

Chicago Men's Challenger COURT 2 Fonseca, Joao - Shimizu, Yuta | Challenger Tour | Challenger TV | ATP Tour | Tennis

ATP Challenger Tour streaming match Fonseca, Joao - Shimizu, Yuta

www.atptour.com

 

[GRASScaraz]

First set 6-3 to Joao!