Venus Williams Makes Hilarious ‘Diapers’ Remark While Lauding Joao Fonseca

Joao Fonseca is playing his first French Open and has set up a third-round clash with Jack Draper after knocking out Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Venus Williams Makes Hilarious ‘Diapers’ Remark While Lauding Joao Fonseca

Joao Fonseca, Venus Williams (Image via X/Mundo Do Tenis, The Tennis Letter)

Joao Fonseca is inching closer to making history. After making his Roland Garros debut against Hubert Hurkacz, Fonseca toiled hard in the second round against home favorite Pierre-Hugues Herbert, not letting the French man extend the match beyond the third set.

Following his match, seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams made a hilarious remark on the 18-year-old. He expressed her wonder at how a player of his age could hit so hard. She told TNT Sports:

It’s scary how good players are so young. Fonseca…how old is he? Is he still in diapers? I wish I was hitting like that at that age.

Fonseca hogged the limelight for the first time after beating Learner Tien in the final of the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals. He did not have to wait much longer for his first ATP title, winning the Argentina Open by beating home favorite Francisco Cerundolo.

Fonseca is backed by many to form another formidable trio consisting of him, World No.1 Jannik Sinner, and World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz. He could face Sinner and Alcaraz in the quarterfinals and final, respectively. Fonseca has never met these two top players in his career.

Mats Wilander sends warning to Jack Draper ahead of his match against Joao Fonseca

Joao Fonseca has not yet dropped a set in the two matches he played. But now, he will be facing a tough challenge in the form of Jack Draper, who too, for the first time, reached the French Open third round. Before setting up the clash with the Brazilian sensation, Draper had to toil hard to knock out home favorite Gael Monfils in the second round.

Joao Fonseca
Joao Fonseca (Image via X/#MMOpen)

Draper has dropped two sets so far in the tournament- against the 38-year-old and Italian ace Mattia Bellucci in the first round. The Briton has locked horns with Fonseca once, in the second round of this year’s Indian Wells Masters which he won before beating Holger Rune to win the biggest title of his career. Ahead of their second tour-level meeting, tennis great Mats Wilander sent a warning to the World No.5. He told TNT Sports:

He [Fonseca] has grown up on clay, and he hits the ball probably a little bit harder constantly than Gael Monfils. Fonseca smacks the ball off of both sides. He has an unbelievable attitude. I don’t think, even if it gets physical, he is going to get tired because he is only 18 years old. So I mean, what an unbelievable draw for Draper to play Gael Monfils and then Joao Fonseca.

Apart from the Indian Wells title, Draper also came close to winning another Masters 1000 title. He had reached the final of the Madrid Open but lost in three sets to three-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud. Fonseca has reached a career-high ranking of No.54 in the live rankings. After his victory over Hubert Hurkacz, he became the youngest Brazilian to clinch a win at Roland Garros since Thomaz Koch in 1963.

Before the French Open, he never progressed to the third round of a Grand Slam tournament. He made his Major main draw debut this year at the Australian Open, where he upset ninth seed Andrey Rublev before losing a five-set battle to Italian ace Lorenzo Sonego in the second round. His win over Rublev was his maiden top-10 victory. At the Wimbledon and US Open, he has not yet progressed to the main draw.

If Fonseca advances to the semifinals, he could set up a blockbuster match against 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic. The Serb, who is searching for his historic 25th Major, has set up a third-round clash with Austria’s Filip Misolic after eliminating Frenchman Corentin Moutet.

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