{"id":52095,"date":"2026-08-17T03:09:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T03:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/52095\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T03:09:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T03:09:19","slug":"next-gen-is-now-gen-fonseca-relishes-big-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/52095\/","title":{"rendered":"Next Gen is Now Gen: Fonseca relishes big stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brazilian sensation among 20-and-under superstars<\/p>\n

By Grant Thompson<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve been labeled up-and-comers, the next generation and the future of the sport. But Rafael Jodar, Learner Tien, Joao Fonseca, Jakub Mensik and Martin Landaluce need not wait for the days ahead. Forget about potential and promise \u2014 the 20-and-under contingent is already making its mark on the ATP Tour.<\/p>\n

Jodar and Tien lead the pack with the Top 10 in reach at the Cincinnati Open, where they are into the third round alongside 19-year-old Fonseca and 20-year-old Landaluce.<\/p>\n

Fonseca, already a two-time ATP Tour titlist like Tien and Mensik, has enjoyed a front-row seat to the quintet\u2019s emergence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to see that the new generation is playing some good tennis,\u201d Fonseca said. \u201cAll of them are nice guys. Guys that are humble and work hard. Learner, I played him in juniors. Landaluce, I played him in juniors. Mensik [I played] in my first year in juniors. Jodar, I know him from the Next Gen ATP Finals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIt\u2019s guys that I\u2019ve known for a long time and I know they can reach some good things and it\u2019s good for tennis to have us pushing each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fonseca\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Flashback to 2023 and Fonseca earned a memorable victory this time of year, claiming the junior title at the US Open. Following that triumph, Fonseca became the junior No. 1, the first Brazilian to hold that honor. The teen rallied past Tien in the final, at a time when both players were hardly known. Fonseca, World No. 26, will be seeded at the US Open for the first time this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always nice to remember,\u201d said Fonseca when asked about that New York run. \u201cI think my junior career was really special for me and really important for my development, as a player and as a person.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat US Open was pretty nice, I played some good tennis and when I go back there, I try to imagine winning the [men\u2019s title],\u201d added last year\u2019s Buenos Aires and Basel champion, celebrating his 20th birthday on August 21.<\/p>\n

One common trend for Fonseca this season has been crashing into the sport\u2019s biggest stars at ATP Masters 1000 level, the most recent example being in Montreal fourth round. The Rio de Janeiro native fell to eventual champion Ben Shelton.<\/p>\n

Fonseca faced Jannik Sinner in Indian Wells (R4) and then-World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in Miami (R2). The road didn\u2019t get any easier in Monte-Carlo, where he was ousted by Alexander Zverev (QFs). In Madrid, a Jodar vs. Fonseca third-round clash \u2014 won by the Spaniard \u2014 was seemingly the first chapter of a promising rivalry.<\/p>\n

\"Fonseca<\/p>\n

\u201cI like big matches,\u201d said Fonseca, who stunned Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros, rallying from two sets to love down to oust the 24-time major champion en route to a career-best Slam quarter-final run.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI like playing in big stadiums. I like the atmosphere. I was always a guy who likes the crowd. When a big guy is playing against me, the Brazilians will come and cheer a lot. It\u2019s always really fun and I like challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Challenge accepted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brazilian sensation among 20-and-under superstars By Grant Thompson They\u2019ve been labeled up-and-comers, the next generation and the future…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[71,283,438,28],"class_list":["post-52095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-71","tag-atp","tag-joao-fonseca","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}