Joao Fonseca Points Out Where He Must Improve to Reach Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s Level

Joao Fonseca to face Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals of the Munich Open.

Joao Fonseca Points Out Where He Must Improve to Reach Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s Level

Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Joao Fonseca (Image via X/Carlos Alcaraz 4K, Jannik Sinner HQ, Ivan Aguilar)

In Short
  • Joao Fonseca aims to improve his consistency to compete with top players Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
  • Both Alcaraz and Sinner have dominated the men's circuit, winning all major titles this season.
  • Fonseca acknowledges the importance of winning crucial points in matches, a skill he is working to develop.

Joao Fonseca is regarded as one of the best youngsters in the men’s circuit. The Brazilian teenager has proven that he can compete with top players in the circuit, but has not yet shown that against Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. He has now revealed what he has to do to reach their level of performance on the court.

Sinner and Alcaraz are the best players in the men’s circuit. Both players have won all the big titles this season. Sinner completed the Sunshine Double and claimed the Monte Carlo Masters, while Alcaraz claimed the Australian Open in January, making him the youngest man to win a Career Grand Slam.

Since the start of the 2024 season, the pair have dominated the men’s tour, winning all the Grand Slam titles and retaining their place in the top 2 of the ATP rankings. The last player apart from Alcaraz and Sinner to win a Grand Slam was Novak Djokovic in 2023 at the US Open. Since then, Alcaraz has claimed five Slams, while Sinner has won four.

Last year, Fonseca was relishing playing against the duo. He finally got his chance last month at the Indian Wells and Miami Open. Sinner defeated him in straight sets at the California-based tournament, and Alcaraz did the same in Miami. The two defeats were a good experience for Fonseca on tour.

He channeled the experience of the losses at the Monte Carlo Masters, where he reached the quarter-finals, making it the first time in his career that he has reached the last eight of an ATP 1000 event. During his press conference at the Munich Open, Fonseca revealed that what separates him from Alcaraz and Sinner is consistent performance in every match:

I think it’s actually consistency. I mean, uh, I have pretty good matches and some matches that I don’t play pretty well, and I need to find a solution to kind of, even when I’m not playing good, to find a way to win the match. So I’m trying to play week after week with consistency, and I’m making good results. like a week during, I don’t know, semifinals or another week winning, losing first round another week, doing final again.

In February, tennis legend Andre Agassi advised Fonseca to block out the noise around him, as it can make him feel he has arrived, since the best players on the circuit have to aim to always improve their games. Perhaps that’s one thing that Alcaraz and Sinner have successfully done since 2024.

Joao Fonseca reveals what makes Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner better than others on tour

One of the standout differences between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz’s games is that they always try to win the most crucial points in a match that could swing the tie in their favor. On some occasions, they don’t start at their best, but should they break their opponents, it gives them the fire and momentum to win the match.

Joao Fonseca
Joao Fonseca (via Davis Cup)

That cannot be said about several players on tour. So many losses have come from losing easy points on the court. During the aforementioned press conference, Joao Fonseca admitted that he has learned from playing against Alcaraz and Sinner that the little important points can help you win matches:

Playing against them is the little things, the little important points that you miss the opportunity and it’s going to come, the opportunity’s gonna come like a break point or a time that he feels a little bit more the pressure is gonna come, but it’s gonna be not very much of the time, so you need to kind of get those important points that you have, and I think in this match, I had a little of it and I couldn’t get it.

Fonseca is currently at the Munich Open, where he’s in the quarter-finals. He’s yet to drop a set at the tournament, beating Arthur Rinderknech and Alejandro Tabilo in the opening two rounds of the tournament. He has already won five matches during this clay-court swing on tour.

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