Joao Fonseca is one of tennis’ youngest, brightest and most precocious talents at the moment, with the world waiting to see when he will cement his breakthrough with an elite title.
Just 18 years of age, this Brazilian talent has been talked about for years now as the player expected to soon join Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner at the pinnacle of the sport.
However, with such expectation naturally comes pressure, plenty of which will be lumped on him at this year’s French Open.
Said to be a strong clay courter, this will mark just his second appearance at a Grand Slam. This time, though, there will be hope that this teenage prodigy can string together a stronger run than he managed in Melbourne.
Joao Fonseca talks about clay ahead of the French Open
That’s not to discredit his performance at the Australian Open, which saw him become the first teenager since Mario Ančić in 2002 to beat a top 10 player in the first round of a Grand Slam by toppling Andrey Rublev.
However, this time the clay should certainly play in his favour.
Asked about the surface and how he compares them to the others on the tour, Fonseca replied: ‘I saw, because I was born on clay, but after the last year where I played a lot of hard, seven months of hard directly, I’m kind of more adapted to hard also.
‘But the surface that I want to play the best is grass.
‘I play good on clay, the one week that I won in Buenos Aires and then after I changed to hard again in Miami, then clay again. I was playing on clay like I was playing on hard, and my head was mixed a little bit. Now I’m adapting a little bit more.’
What are Joao Fonseca’s chances of a good run at Roland Garros?
Fonseca’s chances of a deep run at Roland Garros, on paper, are not great.
After all, the draw was not kind to the Brazilian number one, pitting him against the big-serving number 30 seed Hubert Hurkacz.
The conditions will favour an upset here though, with the altitude and surface somewhat neutralising the Pole’s biggest weapon.
Fonseca, meanwhile, has a forehand that simply cannot be dulled. If he is to bypass the world number 20, knocking out yet another seed in the first round, a Frenchman is guaranteed to be waiting in the second round.
Jack Draper, who felled him in Indian Wells on his way to the title, should then be in the third round. This marks a very tough notch on Draper’s Roland Garros draw.
It’s a very difficult draw for Fonseca, but one that could provide the experiences that shape him into a future champion on the biggest stage.
