Joao Fonseca has exited the Canadian Open at the first hurdle.
The 18-year-old prodigal star was tipped by Carlos Alcaraz to be one of the best players on tour, and he has shown sparkles of his talent throughout 2025.
Fonseca burst onto the scene after defeating Andrey Rublev in straight sets in the first round of the Australian Open. Since then, he has also picked up victories at the French Open and Wimbledon.
However, at the youngster’s most recent tournament, the Canadian Open, he struggled in his first round. Fonseca was defeated by Australia’s Tristan Schoolkate.
Following his loss, the Tennis Channel Live Podcast analysed what went wrong for the young Brazilian against Schoolkate.
Lindsay Davenport says Fonseca struggled with his return
Speaking on the Tennis Channel Live Podcast, 1999 Wimbledon champion Lindsay Davenport weighed in on a key area of Fonseca’s game which caused the Brazilian problems.
Davenport said: “Obviously it’s been a remarkable year for Fonseca but his expectations are much higher than going out in the first round.
“He really struggled with his return in the match. Yes, Schoolkate served well but there was no real problem-solving for Fonseca in that category. [He] just wasn’t able to get the rally in to start the point when he was receiving.
“He now has two weeks until his next match, or about 12 days or so. So, it’ll be interesting to see [if] he goes and does a training block in south Florida. Maybe he goes back to Brazil for a little bit.
“You’ve got to be able to manage an 18, almost 19-year-old’s mental game as well, and this has been a lot this year maybe.”
Davenport is correct. Fonseca, who lost 7-6 6-4, failed to force a single break-point opportunity during the entire match, limiting his chances to shift the momentum and utilise his powerful groundstrokes.
Davenport’s point is also strengthened when considering Schoolkate’s serving numbers. The Australian won a remarkable 89 per cent of his first serve points.
Even more remarkably, Schoolkate won 78 per cent of his second serve points. These serving numbers are incredibly high, illustrating both Schoolkate’s excellent serving and Fonseca’s poor returning performance.
‘That’s a lot of pressure’
Jon Wertheim, who co-hosts the podcast, pointed to evidential material portraying Fonseca as a ‘bonafide star,’ concluding that there is a lot of pressure on the teenager.
Wertheim said: “Note that 6-7 record since Miami, I mean, keep in mind three of those were at majors, so I mean he’s won rounds at all three majors he’s played at this year, that’s a good sign, best of five format.
“But the results at other tournaments haven’t quite been there.
“I’m here in New York right now. The US Open hype has started already. There are billboards that have his face on it.
“I mean this guy is already a bonafide star, and it’s going to be interesting to see sort of the combination; I think it’s the surface, the travel the pressure. I mean this is his rookie season.
“But it’s a little strange to be walking down the streets of New York and you’ve got all the faces of the US Open and here is this teenager who’s making his debut. That’s a lot of pressure.”
