Joao Fonseca reveals his soccer idols and aspirations behind choosing tennis over it
Joao Fonseca played soccer till the age of 11-12 before switching to tennis.
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Joao Fonseca at Miami Open press conference (Image via Getty)
Hailing from a land where soccer forms the very fabric of national identity and culture, Joao Fonseca’s love for the sport is unsurprising. Akin to his inspiration, Jannik Sinner, who started off skiing before switching to tennis, Fonseca too had a brief stint with another sport, in his case soccer, before switching to tennis.
Fonseca’s homeland Brazil is the most successful nation in terms of FIFA World Cups, winning the title five times- 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, and 2002. At the 2025 Miami Open press conference, the 18-year-old spoke about his references in soccer—Ronaldinho and Neymar Jr.
When I was 11-12 years old, I had a minor injury. I was playing against 13-year-olds while being younger, so I played in pain for two months. I told my mother I didn’t want to play soccer anymore, and that I wanted to continue with tennis. Less than a year later, I found my coach, and I think it turned out to be a good decision. My references in soccer are Neymar and Ronaldinho, who we call ‘The Magician’ in Brazil. They were incredible players.
Joao Fonseca said via Miami Open press conference
Widely regarded as one of the best players of all time, Ronaldinho was a part of the 2002 World Cup-winning team. He also received the 2005 Ballon d’Or. Neymar Jr., on the other hand, is Brazil’s all-time top goalscorer.
Miami turns into Brazil for Joao Fonseca
It is very rare to see a player turn the home crowd of his opponent towards him. That is what Joao Fonseca did in his first-round match at the Miami Open. He had a sensational victory over Learner Tien, who he had earlier defeated at the 2024 NextGen ATP Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The crowd in Miami was filled with Brazilian fans, roaring in support of Fonseca. After the win, he even aptly ended up penning “Am I in Brazil?” on the camera lens, basking in the crowd’s immense support and love for him. Tien also recently uploaded a post on Instagram of his time at the Miami Open and interestingly tagged the location of the post as Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Fonseca’s fandom even overshadowed Indian Wells champion Jack Draper’s Sunshine Double campaign. Fonseca’s second-round match, initially scheduled at Grandstand, was shifted to Stadium, upsetting the Brazilian fans. Massive crowds left the first-round match between Jack Draper and Jakub Mensik at Grandstand when Fonseca’s match started playing at the Stadium.
I didn’t really know what was going on at first; obviously, it was getting quite loud. We couldn’t really hear the ball being hit. Those Brazilian fans had been in the stadium waiting for him to play all day and then obviously—change the court-—it’s not ideal; I can understand their frustration, and yeah, we had to stop for a little bit. I just hope they were able to, you know, get on the court.
Jack Draper said via Sky Sports
Draper even took a break until the fans cleared the stands, eventually facing a disappointing loss to Mensik. Some fans, however, got caught in as the court closed off for the start of the game, they started booing and chanting “Joao Fonseca”.
Joao Fonseca will face Alex de Minaur in the next round
Fonseca, on his part, defeated 19th seed Ugo Humbert in straight sets in the second round of the Miami Open. Before this tournament, they faced each other in the Davis Cup qualifier this year, which the Frenchman won in straight sets
Fonseca will now face Alex de Minaur in the Round of 32. The 10th seed received a bye and defeated Yunchaokete Bu to advance into the third round.
The Aussie has not yet won a title this year, though he came close being the runner-up at the Rotterdam Open, where he lost to World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz. While the 26-year-old has never clashed against Fonseca before, Fonseca has already had a victory over a top 10 player when he defeated Andrey Rublev in the opening round of the Australian Open.
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