Joao Fonseca and the sophomore season

Joao Fonseca, a 19-year old from Brazil, emerged as a main character on the global tennis stage around this time last year. Fans, press and pundits flocked to him, much like they once went ga-ga for Guga, aka Gustavo Kuerten, the last great champion from South America’s largest nation. Portuguese-speaking compatriots of the young man soon coined a word for the global hype surrounding their new star: Fonsequismo.

Think “Beatlemania,” or the phenomenon that spawned the “Swifties.”

The symptoms of such fan delirium are similar, as are the requirements for attracting such a passionate following: great talent, success and personal appeal.

Fonseca has all three, and it has landed him in the company of elite peers—superstar rivals who have embraced him with an unusual degree of enthusiasm, given that his aim is to eat their lunch.

👉 WATCH: Fonseca's interview with Petkovic, on the Tennis Channel app

Novak Djokovic has observed that he sees some of himself in Fonseca, who has “just incredible firepower” at both ends of the court. Last spring, sporting icon John McEnroe said he “cannot believe” how good Fonseca already is. Former No. 1 Andy Roddick suggested that, “Fonseca [already] does the hardest parts well,” while veteran Kei Nishikori recently declared, after having played Fonseca, “(he) threw balls with speeds I've never faced before.”

The encomiums bode well for Fonseca’s prospects, but sophomore year on the pro tour is often challenging. That grand, first tour of the mythic Grand Slams is over, the thrill of having a locker next to or near a legend of the game processed, the first trophy acceptance speech survived. Now comes the hard part: performing at a level as good—or better than—Fonseca produced during his meteoric rise. And rivals have already had a good look at his playbook.

I would be focusing on process, consistency and mental resilience to guarantee he continues to climb. Paul Annacone

Fonseca—assuming he is healthy enough to compete—will appear in the upcoming Australian Open as a seeded player. Expectations are high, creating a certain amount of pressure. That makes prudent voices especially valuable in the din.

“Fonseca is still so young, and it’s really easy [at that point] to get too result-oriented,” Tennis Channel analyst and supercoach Paul Annacone told Tennis.com recently. “Instead [of targeting specific results], I would be urging him to stick with his process as it has already helped him achieve a great deal. . . I would be focusing on process, consistency and mental resilience to guarantee he continues to climb.”

That seems sound advice, and Fonseca probably has the most important ingredient to make the best use of it: he’s almost preternaturally patient. Pat Rafter, co-captain of Team World in Laver Cup in September, said of Fonseca’s successful debut in the exhibition event, “The words that come to mind? ‘Incredibly mature.’ A very good tennis brain. He's calm. He's open to suggestions. He's open to learning. He's quick to respond. He's quick to learn.”

At Wimbledon, where Fonseca became the youngest man to reach the third round since 2011, a reporter asked him to describe “the most difficult part” of his career thus far:

“[It is] to understand that you need time to have experience, like all the other players.” Fonseca said, acknowledging that a great junior career doesn’t necessarily evolve into enormous success as a pro. “The mental part is very different. How the pros play is very different also. Sometimes you're going to play your best tennis, and you're [still] going to lose to some great players because, I mean, tennis is a sport with opportunities. If you don't take the opportunity, you're going to lose the match.”

The message may sound obvious, but internalizing it to the point where seizing opportunity becomes the mental equivalent of the muscle memory that guides the forehand is at the core of Fonseca’s tennis sensibility. After defeating Frenchman Pierre Hugues Herbert in the second round at Roland Garros, Fonseca described his attitude this way:

“I would say in important moments I just try to be brave, to be courage[ous].” He described how, after eking out the first set in a tiebreaker, he found himself down 0-3 in the second-set tiebreaker. He responded by hitting a few “amazing” shots, adding, “I think that's the difference between the good guys in the Top 50 and the Top 10. [You] need to be brave, you need to know how to play in important moments.”

Having the talent and consistency to play a high-risk game at the professional level is a potent advantage, but high rewards aren’t guaranteed, especially to a green rookie. In a pithy moment in September on his “Served” podcast, Roddick said of Fonseca:

“Sometimes when you can hit a winner from any position on the court, you try to hit a winner from any position on the court. . . He [Fonseca] will get to the point where he doesn’t [sometimes] miss two balls and go down 0-30, he’ll rein in his game.”

A closer review of Fonseca’s year is helpful when it comes to putting Roddick’s observation, and the situation Fonseca faces in 2026, into perspective. It also provides a hedge against unrealistic expectations.

Fonseca’s breakout dates back to the end of 2024 when, at age 18 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, he became one of the youngest winners of the ATP’s showcase Next Gen event. Fonseca went almost immediately to Australia, where his streak turned torrid. He made the final at a loaded Canberra Challenger to begin the New Year ranked No. 145. He then won three qualifying matches to earn his first berth in the main draw of a Grand Slam event, where he promptly upset No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev.

In the blink of an eye, the hype machine was running on all cylinders. Fonseca lost in the second round Down Under, but less than a month later he claimed the ATP 250 tournament in Buenos Aires. Fonseca experienced a dip soon thereafter, winning just one match (at Indian Wells) in his next two starts—a disappointment that led him to drop down to play the Phoenix Challenger, where he reset and throttled Alexander Bublik (who would go on to craft a sensational ATP year) for the title.

With Fonsequismo in full swing, Fonseca settled into a smooth pattern of solid if unspectacular play, bolstered with remarkable fan support everywhere he appeared. Although he lost in the first round of the Estoril Challenger, and the second round of the Rome Masters, some pundits named Fonseca as a contender at Roland Garros—a tribute to his talent, but also to the deafening buzz surrounding him. Upon hearing that Fonseca was considered among the top five favorites, Roddick remarked, “I’m like, ‘On what planet?’”

The boyish, well-mannered Brazilian displayed his gifts as well as his poise in making the third round at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He ran out of gas at the US Open, and took a break during the ensuing Asian swing. In October, he won three successive main-tour matches for the first time since February as he belted his way to the title at the ATP 500 event in Basel.

He does not wait for the opponent, maybe to miss or lose. This is a quality sometimes you are born with. Marcelo Melo

Fonseca’s record in 2025 was 39-17. He was 17-9 against Top 50 rivals. His production dropped off significantly against Top 20 opponents (4-7), and he lost the only two matches he played against the Top 5. Clearly, he has work to do when it comes to raising his game another notch or two.

The last Brazilian to rank No. 1 in the world was the doubles specialist, multiple Grand Slam doubles champion Mercelo Melo. Evaluating his young countryman last year, Melo told the ATP media team:

“He’d (Fonseca) rather take the game, take the match and win or not. He does not wait for the opponent, maybe to miss or lose. This is a quality sometimes you are born with. I think Alcaraz has this as well. A couple professional Top-10 players have this. They go for it.”

It appears that Fonsequismo is not going away any time soon.