Is Joao Fonseca “next”?
If the company he joined on Sunday is any indication, the answer to that question is “yes.”
Fonseca became the third 18-year-old to win the NextGen ATP Finals after Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz when he defeated Learner Tien in the final at Jeddah’s King Abdullah Sports City. The Brazilian prevailed 2-4, 4-3(8), 4-0, 4-2 in one hour and 27 minutes to complete a perfect 5-0 week in Saudi Arabia.
In a surprising title match between the fifth-seeded Tien and eighth-seeded Fonseca, it was the 19-year-old American who had the early upper hand. In fact, Tien was one point away in the second-set tiebreaker from taking a two-set lead. Instead, Fonseca battled back to level things at a set apiece and then seized control by winning the first 11 points of the third. From there the world No. 145 rolled to victory.
Fonseca’s path to the title also featured a four-set win over Tien during round-robin competition, with both eventual finalists doing extremely well to qualify out of a group that was headlined by No. 1 seed Arthur Fils and No. 3 Jakub Mensik. After upsetting Fils in four sets to begin his week, Fonseca went on to beat Mensik in a fifth-set tiebreaker and then erased Luca Van Assche 4-2, 4-2, 4-1 in the semis.
“I need to believe when I go to a tournament that I can win,” Fonseca noted. “But now I have won it I am thinking, ‘Wow, I made it.’ I am very proud of myself.
“I was really nervous before the [final]. I knew it was going to be so difficult. I played a final against Learner in juniors (2023 U.S. Open) and I know the way he can play. He is such a nice guy and a great player, so I knew it was going to be difficult–mentally and physically. But I got my way through.”
the real deal