Joao Fonseca still has work to do on his game following his Indian Wells exit.
Fonseca is considered a potential challenger to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, but he had only one win on the year heading into Indian Wells.
The Brazilian started to find some form in California, reaching the fourth round with wins over Tommy Paul and Karen Khachanov.
Sinner put an end to that run, and Brad Gilbert thinks the 19-year-old shares a similar issue that the Italian faced earlier in his own career.
Brad Gilbert says there’s one thing Joao Fonseca needs to change in his game
Gilbert, who has worked with top players like Coco Gauff, Andy Murray and Andre Agassi, spoke about Fonseca’s tournament on The Big T Podcast.
The former player and coach said that the main area where Fonseca still has work to do is in the variety of his play, which is similar to what Sinner faced earlier in his career.
“So the biggest thing that he needs to improve… it comes down to a willingness to have a little variety in his game, because, whether or not he’s playing Sinner or he’s playing somebody ranked 100, he’s trying to go through you”, said Gilbert.
“And I also feel like his ball, a little bit what Darren Cahill said Sinner’s problem was, early in his career, he gave players too good of a rhythm because he played one speed.
“So he needs to learn to have more variety, and I feel like his quickness is a little better than he thinks it is, and he’s always trying to pull the trigger, and he’s trying to go through guys.
“And when you play somebody ranked 75 in the world, you don’t need to go through everybody. And then that’s how he loses some players. Variety and willingness, I think that he’ll improve immensely.”
Joao Fonseca’s 2026 ranking based on results so far this year
Fonseca had a decent week at Indian Wells, but overall, it’s been a slow start to the year for him.
He picked up a back injury early in the season and then went out in the first round of the Australian Open. So far, he has split his eight singles matches with four wins and four losses, leaving him 100th in the live race to the ATP Finals.
If rankings were based only on this season’s results, Fonseca would just sneak into the top 100, which is well below his official ranking of world number 35.
He did claim a doubles title at the Rio Open, though and will be looking to build on that momentum when he heads to Miami next. Last year, Fonseca reached the third round there in his debut appearance and will be aiming for an even better run this time around.
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