Joao Fonseca enjoyed an outstanding Indian Wells campaign, despite his exit in the Round of 16 to Jannik Sinner.
Alas, that defeat should not discredit what a wonderful week it was for the 19-year-old, who beat seeded stars like Karen Khachanov and Tommy Paul before narrowly losing to the former world number one.
Ironically, even before that match against the Italian, Joao Fonseca was speaking about the gulf in quality between him and the world’s very best players.
He told Tennis Channel exactly what he feels he needs to do to bridge that gap.
Joao Fonseca states the area of his game where he must improve
Asked how he plans to reach the level of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, and whether he concerns himself with them or those more in his age bracket, Fonseca first focused on Learner Tien.
The Brazilian claimed: “I mean, more Learner [Tien] than Mensik. We played juniors together. Mensik is one year older than us, and of course, we look for him as well. We played the Next Gen together as well.
Joao Fonseca will be the man to unsettle Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s duopoly over men’s tennis – Prove us wrong!
“Learner, we had good battles, and he’s a great guy. He’s playing such amazing tennis.”
He then sought to answer the question on what he feels is separating him from the sport’s elite: “I think the most different thing from, I don’t know, a top 50 guy and the top 10 guys is that consistency… The level is pretty similar, but I mean, the consistency on making results every week, it’s such an important thing.
“And having to deal with getting onto the court, with not playing well and trying to get the win is just such a big thing.
“So I’ll say, for me, I’m trying to get as much experience as I can in my second year playing the big tournaments and trying to understand how the top players play and how to deal daily.
“I mean, as I said, San Francisco, Laver Cup was a good experience for me to see things that the big players do that I want to do and things that the big players do that I don’t think is right, and I try not to do.
“So it’s good to see those kinds of things and trying to make my own path.”
How Joao Fonseca went toe-to-toe with Jannik Sinner
It’s a testament to how well he played that Sinner was full of praise for Fonseca after their match, despite the record showing a straight-sets win for the 24-year-old.
However, this match was anything but straightforward for the four-time major champion.
In fact, he was forced to save three set points in the first set, mounting a remarkable comeback in the first of two tiebreaks he had to win to claim the match.
Fonseca maintained a 70% first serve percentage throughout the match, winning 74% of the points through that first serve.
Who do you think will retire with more Grand Slam titles?
That likely explains why he only had to face four break points, saving three of them and converting one of the two he managed to conjure on Sinner’s serve.
In the end, Fonseca won just two fewer points than his opponent, but lost in straight sets.
There is so much positivity to take from this performance.
