Patient Fonseca Says His Time Will Come

Brazilian teen Joao Fonseca has been tipped by many tennis watchers to be the player to eventually challenge the Carlos Alcaraz-Jannik Sinner duopoly at the top of the men’s game.

The 19-year-old has long been used comfortable carrying the weight of expectations. He just doesn’t want to be rushed.

“Everyone has their time. My time will come,” Fonseca said after his first-round win over Gabriel Diallo in Monte-Carlo.

“I played both of them and they were good matches. But I’m not close yet. I hope in the future I’ll be able to say it was close every match. They play this level every match and I need to be more consistent. I need to work harder. But I think I’m on the right path.

“I want to be there competing against them. But people need to understand that I need time to become what they want me to become and what I want to become. I want to be No. 1 but I need to be humble and understand that things take time.”

Last month Fonseca pushed eventual champion Sinner to two tie-breaks in Indian Wells and fell 6-4, 6-4 to Alcaraz in Miami.

Fonseca is currently No. 40, 16 spots below his career-high of No. 24 following a challenging start to the year. A back injury restricted him to just one match during the Australian swing, then he won just one match on the clay of Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro.

But strong wins over former Top 10 players Karen Khachanov and Tommy Paul in Indian Wells and the impressive showings against Sinner and Alcaraz have put Fonseca in a strong position coming into the clay season.

He said that he was very happy with his 6-2, 6-3 win over Diallo to begin his European clay-court campaign. “I felt great, it was a good match. It was my first time on that court and it was super special. I was very happy with the way I played.”

Fonseca next meets Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech.

(Photo Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour)