Serena Williams’ Ex-Coach Calls Victoria Mboko and Joao Fonseca ‘Future of Tennis’ After Breakthrough Season

Victoria Mboko lifted the Canadian Open, while Joao Fonseca took home the Argentina Open and the Swiss Indoors.

Serena Williams’ Ex-Coach Calls Victoria Mboko and Joao Fonseca ‘Future of Tennis’ After Breakthrough Season

Victoria Mboko, Joao Fonseca (Image via X/Sportsnet, Everything Joao Fonseca)

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Two youngsters from the WTA and ATP have impressed Serena Williams‘ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. They are Victoria Mboko and Joao Fonseca.

Mboko surprised the tennis world when she lifted her career’s first title in her home tournament, the Canadian Open, by defeating Naomi Osaka. En route to beating the four-time Grand Slam champion, the 19-year-old went past Coco Gauff in the fourth round and Elena Rybakina in the semifinals. The win helped her reach a career-best No.18 ranking.

The rise of Fonseca and Mboko — those two players are the future of tennis. I will start with Victoria Mboko. She’s Canadian, she’s played an incredible season, she was out of the top 100, and she killed it this year. She won a Masters [WTA] 1000. She had some downs after that because suddenly the pressure became too high — she arrived like a bomb in the tennis world, the WTA world.

Patrick Mouratoglou said on Instagram

Fonseca hogged the limelight for the first time when he won the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals. Then this year, he won his career’s first ATP title by going past home favorite Francisco Cerundolo in the final of the Argentina Open. He lifted ATP 500 Swiss Indoors by defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

And, I want to say the same for Joao Fonseca from Brazil. This year, he continued to rise. He also had some ups and downs. He also experiences crazy pressure; you can imagine how much the Brazilian fans are behind him, which is positive, but also a lot of responsibility for such a young guy.

Patrick Mouratoglou added

Mouratoglou is convinced the Brazilian, in the future, would start to challenge the dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, both of whom have split the last eight Grand Slam titles. Fonseca has never faced the two in official events, but locked horns with the six-time Grand Slam champion in an exhibition event in Miami during the off-season. Alcaraz won that match in three sets.

Kei Nishikori thinks Joao Fonseca can become a top 10 player

Joao Fonseca, on the back of two ATP titles, has reached his career-best 24th ranking. Former World No.3 Kei Nishikori, who lost to Fonseca in a Challenger event in Phoenix this year, said during his interview with WOWOW that the 19-year-old can become a top 10 player.

Joao Fonseca
Joao Fonseca (Image via X/Tennis Channel)

If he could just reduce his mistakes a little more, I think he could easily get into the top 10, or even the top five, and I think he has the personality to reach the top. (Fonseca) threw balls with speeds I’ve never faced before, so I couldn’t let my guard down during the rallies. Any ball that was even slightly soft would be hit back, so I was under constant pressure. I think that kind of strength is something only a young player can have. I’m sure Fonseca will improve.

Kei Nishikori said

This year, Fonseca also played the main draw of every Major. After making his main draw debut at the Australian Open, where he lost to Lorenzo Sonego in the second round, the Brazilian sensation made the third round of the French Open, where Jack Draper knocked him out.

At Wimbledon, then, Fonseca was defeated by Nicolas Jarry in the third round, while at the US Open, Tomas Machac prevented him from progressing to the second round. Fonseca was last seen in action at the Paris Masters, where Karen Khachanov knocked him out in the third round. Because of his ranking, Fonseca will play next year’s Australian Open as a seeded player.

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