Coco Gauff Believes Joao Fonseca’s Evolution “Will Come with Experience and Time” Following French Open Exit

Joao Fonseca suffered a straight sets loss to Jack Draper in the third round of the Roland Garros.

Coco Gauff Believes Joao Fonseca’s Evolution “Will Come with Experience and Time” Following French Open Exit

Coco Gauff and Joao Fonseca (via X/The Tennis Letter)

Coco Gauff sent a heart-warming message to teenage sensation Joao Fonseca after he was knocked out of the French Open by Jack Draper. The Brazilian teen has taken the tennis world by storm this season and has earned two big wins at the Grand Slam level. However, he was no match for Draper in their third-round meeting.

Gauff herself burst into the scenes when she was just 15. She did well to improve and evolve, and currently, she’s getting better every year, more than her equals. The American won her first Grand Slam at the 2023 US Open. She has also demonstrated in recent years that she belongs to the Top 3 of the WTA rankings and has maintained the position well.

However, Fonseca already has an ATP title, which he won at the Argentina Open in February. He also beat then-World No.9 Andrey Rublev in the first round of his Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open. At the Roland Garros, he upset the No.30 seed Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets to reach the second round.

Furthermore, he also won his second-round tie against Pierre-Hugues Herbert. But in the third round against an in-form Draper, he couldn’t replicate his top-level opening match performance. In fact, the British No.1 just needed less than two hours to beat Fonseca in straight sets and now has a 2-0 lead in their head-to-head record.

Although Fonseca failed to trouble Draper, he still earned a fan in Gauff, who is looking forward to his consistent improvement. She revealed during her press conference that he will gain the needed experience in his game with just time and patience.

He has a lot of talent and is doing very well. Everything will come with experience and time. The guys are a bit different, in terms of physicality, and the fact that at 18 he’s reaching the third round of Grand Slams and doing what he’s done, especially on the men’s side, where I think there’s a bit more physical difference between 18 and 23 than in the women’s, is fantastic.

Fonseca will now look to bounce back from his French Open exit in the grass-court season. However, he’s set to enter into the Top 55 of the ATP rankings after his run at the Roland Garros. He’s also expected to feature at the Wimbledon, which begins on June 30.

Coco Gauff beats Ekaterina Alexandrova to reach the quarter-finals of the Roland Garros

On Monday, Coco Gauff held off a determined Ekaterina Alexandrova to reach the quarter-finals of the Roland Garros. The 21-year-old claimed a 6-0, 7-5 win in an hour and 22 minutes to reach her fifth consecutive Roland Garros quarter-finals. She became the fourth-youngest player in the Open Era to achieve that feat.

Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

Gauff made her debut in the French Open draw and has made it to the quarter-finals of every year since then, including a run to the final in 2022. She was asked how she gets her consistent level at the Roland Garros. She revealed that she achieved so by fighting for every match and point.

Fighting for every match and every point, because I’ve learned in the last two tournaments, especially in Rome and Madrid. I started by losing the opening set in the first round of both tournaments and reaching the final, which shows that you have to keep fighting for every match and every point because anything can happen in a tournament. If I want to be more consistent on the circuit, I have to keep doing it.

Gauff will face Madison Keys in the quarter-finals next. Keys ended Hailey Baptiste‘s run in the fourth round. The All-American clash will see Gauff bid for her fifth Grand Slam semi-final.

Also read: (Video) Aryna Sabalenka Gatecrashes Novak Djokovic’s Interview on TNT Sports at Roland Garros