There is little doubt that Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are in a league of their own in men’s tennis at the moment and Brazillian teenager Joao Fonseca had the privilege – and daunting challenge – of facing them in the space of 10 days across the Sunshine double. At Indian Wells, he came up against Sinner in the round of 16 and lost 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4) in an incredible tight match. At Miami Open, the luck of the draw pitted Fonseca against world No 1 Alcaraz. And the Spanish tennis star and world number onedefeated the 19-year-old on Friday night in a match where both of them were at their aggressive best in their first-ever ATP Head-to-Head meeting. It was Alcaraz who came out on top by 6-4, 6-4.
Fonseca got some strong support from the Brazilians in the crowd as he put in a spirited fight against the world number one. Alcaraz’s experience, class, and maturity ultimately prevailed over Fonseca’s ferocity.
Speaking after the match, the 19-year-old – touted for bigger things in the future – spoke about the differences in facing the world’s best in such a short span.
“I think it [facing Jannik Sinner at Indian Wells] helped me to understand… of course, it’s different types of games. I think Alcaraz has more arsenal than Sinner. Sinner is more like a robot that just kills the ball and does everything perfect. Carlos, he can do everything. He can do with topspin. He can fire the ball. He has good movement, he goes to the net. He has everything,” Fonseca said in the press conference.
Speaking in the context of the defeat against Alcaraz, he added: “It’s more difficult to understand the game. He breaks a lot of your rhythm. From the beginning I was not serving well. He was returning good, the second serves. He got more used to it on court. In the beginning, there was a bit more pressure, same as me. But yeah, he got an early break in the beginning of the 1st set as well 2nd set. Then he played his game. With good shots, going to the net, approaching. I think the Jannik game helped me to enter the court with no fear. Trying to play my game. But I think I didn’t get the opportunities that I had. And of course he played good. He’s No 1 in the world. I need to think about my mistakes and trying to improve.”
That Fonseca compared Sinner to a robot is a compliment of course because the Italian can be metronomic and so hard to break down, but interestingly enough, it is something he had acknowledged he must improve – become less predictable against the mercurial Spaniard, capable of producing extraordinary magic moments.
He did so while speaking after losing the US Open final last year against Alcaraz, Sinner had said: “I was very predictable today on court. He did many things, he changed up the game. That’s also his style of how he plays. Now it’s going to be on me if I want to make changes or not,” Sinner had said after his 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 defeat in 2025’s season-ending Major. “That’s definitely [what] we are going to work on. I’m trying to be more prepared for the next match that I will play against him.
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“It also depends on how you arrive to play against Carlos. One thing is when the scoreline [or] matches before are comfortable but you always do the same things, like I did, for example, during this tournament, I didn’t make one serve-volley, didn’t use a lot of drop shots, and then you arrive to a point where you play against Carlos where you have to go out of the comfort zone.
“So I’m going to aim to maybe even lose some matches from now on, but trying to do some changes, trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player, because I think that’s what I have to do, trying to become a better tennis player. At the end of the day, that’s my main goal.”
For his part, Alcaraz spoke highly of Fonseca, saying some of the winners he was able to hit off loopy moon balls surprised him during the match. In his on-court interview, Alcaraz said: “Well I do remember when I played Rafa Nadal for the first time in Madrid. I remember how good that match was for me, even though I was destroyed. I would say for him playing toe to toe with us, he and his team are going get great feedback and know what he should improve in the future. He has everything. Great shots. A lot of things to improve. But I’m pretty sure he’s gonna do it. Back-to-back tournaments playing against No 1 and No 2 in the world is gonna be really helpful for him.”
(With Reuters inputs)
