Joao Fonseca had high praise for the way Jannik Sinner handled his nerves during their Indian Wells clash.
The pair played out a tight two-hour match in California, with Sinner coming through 7-6(8-6), 7-6(7-4) to move into the next round.
It was their first meeting on the ATP Tour and could be the start of an interesting head-to-head between two talented players.
Fonseca had spoken highly of Sinner before they took to the court, and after the match, he added even more to his comments about the Italian’s mental toughness.
Joao Fonseca says Jannik Sinner piles on the pressure when he is nervous
When asked if he felt more pride or disappointment after the loss, Fonseca said: “As a tennis player, I can say that when we lose, we kind of feel sad or disappointed sometimes, trying to figure out what I did right, what I did wrong.
“But of course I’m happy the way that I played. For myself, I don’t normally think that I need to be mad at myself when I played good, when I did everything good, and the opponent has the credit.
“Yeah, I just try to figure out what I could do better. Maybe I could serve better in the 6-5 in the tiebreak that I had.
“I don’t know. It’s always an ‘if’ that we, I mean, we can’t change the past, so we need to focus on the future. I mean, I’m happy the way that I played, like I said, but of course there are some things to work on.”
Fonseca also commented on the facet of Sinner’s play that presented the greatest difficulty for him, stating: “I think he puts a lot of pressure, not only the serves… well, today he served pretty well.
“He won a lot of points serving, a lot of important points, as well. I would say he puts a lot of pressure every time when he’s nervous.
“When he’s tight, he puts a lot of pressure. Doesn’t matter the time. He hits the ball strongly. Yeah, so he puts a lot of pressure.
“You don’t think sometimes he’s tight, because you can feel it, you can feel the ball, just heavy, but yeah, I mean, that’s a thing that I felt, intensity of the game.
“It’s pretty, all the games, like, 100%, you need to be always ready, always focused. Yeah, that’s the main difference, I think the intensity, the way that he plays important points.
“Of course the consistency, he normally doesn’t do unforced errors. Yeah, that’s the thing that was the main difference from today, as well.”
Joao Fonseca reflects on how close he is to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz
Fonseca’s match against Sinner offered a valuable opportunity to measure himself against one of the game’s top players, with the Italian and Carlos Alcaraz having set the standard in men’s tennis for some time.
The 19-year-old Brazilian has often been touted as someone who could eventually join that conversation, and he spoke about it after the match.
“Well, I think the level, my level, it’s pretty, like, I mean, I can play against them. I can do some great matches.
“But there is always the little things, the little important things that you need to work every day. I mean, those little details just super important, like when he played the important points, like how he deals with it.
“So of course a lot of experience, I still need it, but I think the level is still there. Of course far, but I can play against them.
“I mean, of course much more things to improve, but I feel happy the way that I played, because I felt the level was pretty close today.”
Asked if facing Sinner for the first time lived up to what he expected, Fonseca replied: “I mean, I wanted to win, of course, but like I said, I was happy the way that I played, because I put a lot of pressure.
“I think the rallies were good. I was putting pressure the way that I wanted, and yeah, I served well, I tried to do the returns that I could.
“But he was serving well, as well. So, I mean, I think I kind of managed to… I mean, my expectations were okay.
“I was just trying to put what I could in the court and trying to see how it is. Of course I saw some opportunities, so I got a little bit more with a little bit of expectations, because you’re playing against ex-top 1 guy.
“But yeah, like I say, the level was there, but the good things that I need to work with a lot of things to reach this level.”
Fonseca, at 19, has time to improve, but Sinner and Alcaraz likely will too.
The Brazilian has yet to face the Spaniard on the ATP Tour. Still, his recent performance against the Italian is certainly a promising start.
In the next round, Sinner will face Learner Tien in the Indian Wells quarter-final. Meanwhile, Alcaraz faces Casper Ruud in the round of 16.
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