2024 is undoubtedly the year of the Jannik Sinner. The Italian, with two Grand Slams (Australian Open and US Open), three Masters 1000s (Miami, Cincinnati and Shanghai), two ATP 500s (Rotterdam and Halle) and the ATP Finals, He became the great dominator of the circuit to lead the ATP rankings with authority.
Just Carlos Alcarazchampion of two more Grand Slams, seems to be in a position to discuss his reign for years to come…unless a new star appears to threaten their status.
And everything indicates that the player is Joao Fonseca. The Brazilian, at 18 years old, had a revelation of a season that ended on Sunday by becoming the champion of the ATP NextGen Finals, the Masters for under-21s.
Fonseca, who started the season outside the Top 700 but would finish in 145th place, So he joins Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz as the only 18-year-old players to win the tournamentUndoubtedly, a good sign for what lies ahead.
But this is not the only thing he imitated this year. In addition to being crowned ‘master’ at the age of 18, Fonseca did so as the eighth and last classified, just like Sinner in 2019.
This season, he also added his first victory as a professional at home.
It was in February, in the first round of the Rio Open, replicating what Sinner achieved in 2019which debuted with success in its country as well, in its case at the Masters 1000 in Rome.
To top the hat trick of opportunities, Both the Italian (2019) and the Brazilian (2024) won the Lexington Challenger.
“A lot of great players have won the ATP NextGen Finals and I will say that that I really want to see, and really see myself, is the Sinner. I really like his aggressive game. Technically, his aggressive way of playing is definitely my type,” Fonseca said in an interview on the ATP website.
“Mentally, he’s quite calm, he’s shy and I like the way he competes. He is not very expressive so he looks more like me“added the Brazilian about his reference, which he met at the end of 2023 at the ATP Finals in Turin.
“I traded balls with him on the first or second day. He’s a very nice guy. He said to me: ‘Are you going to university? You’re too good for this, be a professional now.’ This is something very beautiful. I thought you were fooling me. “This is the first time I have trained with him and he is very nice, as well as his coaches,” concluded the new promise of world tennis, with a new one of 2025 in which he can knock down the door of the tennis elite to begin. rubbing shoulders with the big ones.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
