PARIS (AP) — João Fonseca’s breakthrough performance at the French Open was just what tennis needs more of.
The 19-year-old brought a new level of buzz to the sport with his vocal Brazilian fans, blistering forehands and a comeback victory for the ages over 39-year-old Novak Djokovic.
“The world is on his shoulders. People want him so bad to do well all over the world,” John McEnroe told reporters, adding that American TV broadcaster TNT was hoping he would reach the final: “That’s how big he’s become.”
Fonseca, however, ran out of energy in a straight-sets loss to Jakub Mensik in the quarterfinals late Tuesday.
A drop in level was understandable after Fonseca twice rallied from two sets down, first against Dino Prizmic in the second round and then against Djokovic in the third round — having never won a five-set match before.
In the fourth round, Fonseca eliminated two-time runner-up Casper Ruud.
“My mentality is on the right path,” Fonseca said after getting beat by Mensik.
With about 1.5 million viewers on ESPN Brazil, the match vs. Mensik earned the biggest-ever rating for a tennis event on cable TV in the country.
Fonseca has been hyped as The Next Big Thing in men’s tennis since he upset No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev in the opening round of last year’s Australian Open as an 18-year-old. That was his Grand Slam debut and it came when he was ranked 112th and made it into the main draw by winning three matches in qualifying rounds.
Fonseca is now No. 30 and is projected to move up to No. 25 after achieving his best Grand Slam result so far.
“For all the expectations and hype,” McEnroe said, “he’s starting to figure it out.”
Fonseca’s attention now turns to Wimbledon, where he reached the third round last year.
“I like playing on grass. It’s fun,” he said, adding that he would head home to Brazil for a week before coming back over to Europe to begin the grass-court season.
For Fonseca’s last two matches in Paris, former French Open champion Gustavo “Guga” Kuerten sat in the front row to watch his fellow Brazilian. Fonseca is the first Brazilian man to reach the last eight in Paris since — you guessed it — Kuerten in 2004.
Kuerten won Roland Garros in 1997, 2000 and 2001 and was ranked No. 1.
Djokovic suggested that Fonseca could be just as successful.
“He definitely has the potential to do that. Things have to come together,” Djokovic said. “He’s got firepower. He’s got the whole Brazilian nation cheering him up, so there’s a lot of excitement around him — rightfully so. So hopefully he can be the next great thing, win Slams. Definitely wish to see that.”
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Associated Press writer Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo contributed to this report.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
