Wimbledon wonderkid Joao Fonseca picks between Federer and Nadal | Tennis | Sport
“I think the first thing that I kind of took as an inspiration is talent combined with hard work,” Fonseca said ahead of his first-round meeting with Roberto Bautista Agut at SW19 this year. “I’m a Roger fan, I always saw Roger, but I would say more about Nadal – Nadal is a guy that has a lot of talent but people look [a lot] at his hard work, the way that he fights, the way that he gives it all. But yeah, [it’s about combining] these two. It was something that inspired me a lot and when I was younger, I would say that I wasn’t the most hard working one, like 13, 14 [years old], and then I started understanding that if I combined the two (talent and hard work) I would achieve things much easier and much faster. It was the first thing that clicked.”
That isn’t the only area where Fonseca believes he has picked up good habits from the top pros. “They inspired me with the way they speak, the way that they are humble, feet on the ground,” he added.
“And when you have 24 Grand Slams [like Djokovic], you don’t have anything more to win and you’re still playing here for love. So enjoy playing, enjoy playing for love and being around good people. That’s also an inspiration.”
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Fonseca is the 24th seed at Wimbledon this year, having reached the third round on his main draw debut 12 months ago. An improved showing is well within his powers, especially after his comeback win over Djokovic in Paris taught him some more about himself.
“I think that result was important for me in many matters,” he said. “I think first, proving myself that I could win matches that I was two sets down and kind of trusted more of my physique, my mentality.
“When I arrived in Roland Garros I was not feeling great with my confidence, not playing good tennis, and I actually didn’t know I was going to play 100 per cent because I was feeling something in my wrist. But then [I was] improving each day, feeling better with my wrist.
“It was a tournament that I had no expectations at all and had some amazing results, a match against Novak that I’m going to remember for my whole life. So yeah, it was important for me [for many reasons], those results, and hopefully I can do more and more and get this experience to achieve more goals.”
