Joao Fonseca Brushes off Novak Djokovic Comparison Praise from Alejandro Davidovich Fokina: “Jannik and Carlos Are Playing Next-Level Tennis”

Joao Fonseca is now a two-time ATP champion. The Brazilian youngster, on Sunday (October 26), denied Alejandro Davidovich Fokina his career’s first singles title with a straight set win in the Swiss Indoors final.

During the trophy presentation, the Spaniard compared the 19-year-old to Novak Djokovic. Fokina said Fonseca would break Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner‘s dominance the way Djokovic did to the Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal era. When Fonseca was asked about this comment during the press conference, he stated that he is not a fan of such comparisons.

I am not a fan of these comparisons. Everyone has their own history… I think it’s a pleasure hearing those kind words for him. Great guy, great friend, great fighter…I’m trying my best, but we all know that Jannik and Carlos are playing next level tennis. So all the other players from the tour, we are working harder and harder to keep going with them.

Sinner and Alcaraz have reached 32 finals since 2024 and lifted 24 titles; they’ve also shared the last eight Majors. This year, they have featured in 18 finals, with the World No.2 winning four titles, and the World No.1 bagging eight. Fonseca is yet to meet Sinner or Alcaraz. The six-time Grand Slam champion had the chance to meet Fonseca at the Laver Cup this year, but Team World chose not to play another player.

Fonseca now holds a 2-0 head-to-head record over Fokina. Prior to the Swiss Indoors, the teen sensation was given the walkover by the 26-year-old in the Cincinnati Masters second round this year. It was the World No.15’s fourth defeat this year, as well as his overall fifth career defeat in finals.

Before losing to Fonseca, Fokina suffered defeats at the Delray Beach Open, Mexican Open, and the Citi Open at the hands of Miomir Kecmanovic, Tomas Machac, and Alex de Minaur, respectively.

Joao Fonseca explains the change of mindset after the Swiss Indoors win

Joao Fonseca admitted that he felt pressure before starting his campaign at the Swiss Indoors. In the first round, Fonseca had to overcome big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. But later, twice he received a walkover, first from Jakub Mensik in the fourth round, and later, Denis Shapovalov retired mid-match. Fonseca, at the press conference after his win, talked about the shift in mindset that helped him handle the pressure.

It was similar to what happened in Buenos Aires, in my first title, facing four Argentinians. The pressure was high, so the mindset needed to be very good, and I believe I dealt with everything very well. For instance, in the semifinals, Munar had a much better ranking than me for a 500 semifinal.

In Buenos Aires, Fonseca defeated Francisco Cerundolo to lift his career’s first title. But following the win, he ended up losing several matches, failing to make deep runs in the next few tournaments he played until he arrived in Basel.

The Swiss Indoors win helped him reach a career-best No.28 ranking with 1,615 points. At the press conference, Fonseca also admitted that his next main goal is to play as a seeded player at the Australian Open next year.

Following Basel, Fonseca scheduled a first-round match against Shapovalov at the Paris Masters. Fonseca made his debut in the last Masters 1000 of the season this year. In Masters 1000 events, he has yet to progress beyond the third round.

He made his Masters 1000 debut at the 2024 Madrid Open and reached the second round. This year, in the tournaments of this level, Fonseca played the third-round matches of the Miami Open and the Cincinnati Masters, and skipped the Monte Carlo Masters and the Shanghai Masters.

Also read: Andrey Rublev Admits he Might Take “a Pause” From Tennis as he’s Completely “Worn out”

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