Joao Fonseca has been turning heads and earning high praise from fans, players and others alike in the tennis world. Among those impressed by the fast-rising 18-year-old is Novak Djokovic, the record holder for most weeks at No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, who spoke at length about Fonseca on Sunday at the Miami Open presented by Itau.
“He's been [the] talk of the Tour in the last several months. I mean, deservedly so,” Djokovic said in a press conference following the Serbian’s third-round victory against Camilo Ugo Carabelli. “He's a very good tennis player. I mean, so young. Just incredible firepower from both ends of the baseline, serve [as well]. He's a very complete player.
“Of course, what is impressive is the way he strikes the ball, but even more so is how he handles the nerves on the court for someone that doesn't have experience at all playing at the highest level.”
Djokovic, 37, is making his 14th Miami appearance while Fonseca is making his first. Nearly 20 years Fonseca’s senior, the Serbian earned a record 411th ATP Masters 1000 match win on Sunday while the #NextGenATP star is set to compete in his maiden third-round appearance at that level.
The Miami crowds will again be flooded with proud Brazilian fans waving their home country’s flag and chanting the teenager’s name. Fonseca’s impact goes beyond Brazil, as evidenced by his two matches featuring full stands at Hard Rock Stadium.
“I think everyone knew that he's going to have quite a support here,” Djokovic said. “He's exciting for Brazil, for the world of tennis. I was saying back in Australia, for our tennis ecosystem, our sport, it's super important to have a superstar, future superstar, hopefully coming from Brazil. Such a big country, big market, important.”
While Djokovic is just one title shy of capturing his 100th tour-level crown, Fonseca captured his first last month in Buenos Aires, becoming the youngest South American champion in the history of the ATP Tour (since 1990). Djokovic won his first tour-level title at age 19 in 2006.
The Belgrade native also spoke highly of Fonseca’s #NextGenATP peers.
“He's a very exciting player to watch, but he's not the only one,” Djokovic said. “You have [Jakub] Mensik. Maybe because people talk about Fonseca so much, they forgot about Mensik. [Learner] Tien, as well. All those players are very young, but they have as good of rankings as he does. They're as good as him.
“I think it's exciting, I don't know what I should call it — that generation, the new generation is bringing. It's always great that you have exciting players to watch and see the players that have potential to reach the greatest heights and to carry this sport.”
Djokovic and Fonseca are placed on opposite halves of the Miami draw. The Serbian next faces 15th seed Lorenzo Musetti, whom he leads 7-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Fonseca plays Alex de Minaur on Monday.
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