Patrick Mouratoglou reveals the chatter in the locker room is that Joao Fonseca will be a top-10 player by the end of this season as Serena Williams’ ex-coach shares he is also a fan of the Brazilian’s game but also his personality.
After winning the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah, the 18-year-old continued his winning streak at the start of 2025 after winning the Canberra Challenger and then also winning three qualifying matches to earn a main draw spot at the Australian Open.
In his Grand Slam debut, Fonseca was handed a pretty tough opening match as he drew world No. 10.
But was no issue for the rising Brazilian star, who was firing from all cylinders and completely outgunned the Russian en route to registering an impressive 7-6 (1) 6-3 7-6 (5) win.
Joao Fonseca© Australian Open/X – Fair Use
During the win, the current world No. 99 fired a stunning 51 winners and also had 14 aces.
While his 14-match winning streak came to an end in the Australian Open second round versus Lorenzo Sonego, the rising star already got major attention from the tennis world and saw some big predictions being made about him.
Mouratoglou: I hear players saying Fonseca is going to be a top-10 before the end of 2025
“His personality is like a sun, he’s shining, very good serve, very good backhand, forehand, literal bomb, I mean he hit a forehand at 180kmh, the fastest of the [Australian Open] tournament,” the French coach said in a video uploaded on his Instagram.
“He has the fire in the racket but he has the fire also in his personality, you see that the guy wants it and you can feel his ambition, his ambition is huge…
“Now the pressure is coming up already for him because what he has achieved already puts him on a spot.
“I hear players saying already that Fonseca is going to be top ten before the end of the season.
“Imagine the progression that people see him do in such a short period of time, so let’s see how he will react.”
This past weekend, the Brazilian played his first matches since the Australian Open.
On Saturday, he was beaten by Ugo Humbert in a Davis Cup match in France.
The following day, he lost to Arthur Fils.
Tennis World USA