Jannik Sinner narrowly escaped an Indian Wells upset on Tuesday evening as he navigated his way past Joao Fonseca.
Sinner, who recently joined John McEnroe in an elite group, was forced to play his best tennis against Fonseca, who produced one of the best performances of his career so far.
Ultimately, the Italian was able to prevail, winning the contest 7-6, 7-6.
Joao Fonseca will be the man to unsettle Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s duopoly over men’s tennis – Prove us wrong!
Fonseca may rue his missed opportunities: he squandered three set points in the first set before losing the tiebreak 6-8.
However, the Brazilian can take many positives from the match, as noted by Sinner during his post-match press conference.
Jannik Sinner says Joao Fonseca is ‘fearless’
When asked for Fonseca’s ‘best quality,’ Sinner said: “Well, I think he is fearless. He likes to go for shots. He is very aggressive. Has a great mentality.
“You know, I feel like he’s, as I said, in really good hands with his team. They are having very positive approach, you know, of tennis, which this is very important for especially young players.
“I don’t know him very well off the court, but he seems like a very humble kid, humble player. Yeah, for sure he’s gonna be very, very tough to beat. He’s already very tough to beat, but even in the future, even more so.
“It’s good. It’s good for the sport. It’s definitely good for the sport having him, having Learner [Tien] also, very consistent, incredible players. It’s good.
Sinner was then asked to predict what Fonseca can achieve in the sport.
The Brazilian has long been tipped as a future superstar, and could be the man to challenge the dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in the future.
“I cannot predict the future,” said Sinner. “I don’t know. I do believe he’s very, very high-quality player.
We all saw this. Now I have finally played against him, and I’m very sure he’s going to do some great things in the future.
“But, you know, there is a lot of work, as I put in, as we all put in. You know, things can change.
“He has everything what’s needed, yeah, to be an incredible player, which he is already but even more so. I wish him only the best.”
What would have happened if Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner played at the same time as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal?
Does Joao Fonseca play a similar way to Jannik Sinner?
Sinner and Fonseca share similar qualities: rip-roaring groundstrokes, an embattled mentality and a powerful serve.
Sinner was asked about his potential similarities to Fonseca, to which he replied: “I mean, from my point of view, everyone is different.
“He definitely has similar qualities to what I have and what I have evolved in the last years, but in the same time, I do see, you know, some different things, things he’s doing slightly better at times, things what I do better at times.
Jannik Sinner’s Indian Wells path
- Quarter-finals: Learner Tien
- Semi-finals: Alexander Zverev / Arthur Fils
- Final: Carlos Alcaraz
“You know, so I do believe every player is different. He’s going through his way of how approaching this sport, and I have mine.
“But he’s in very good hands. He has a great, great team around him and a very hard-working kid. It was a really good matchup.”
Rick Macci tips Joao Fonseca to be a Grand Slam champion
Rick Macci [pictured below], the former coach of the Williams sisters, has weighed in on Fonseca’s potential, comparing the Brazilian’s talent to that of Carlos Alcaraz.
On X, the coach, who has also worked with Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova, said: “As I said 3 years ago the Fonseca has more over the top potential than any player I have seen since Alcaraz.
“He checks with high quality and juice the 3 big ticket items forehand backhand serve and his mindset is in the neighborhood that spells multiple Grand Slams.”
Fonseca will now look ahead to the Miami Open, which is set to begin on March 17.
