João Fonseca had never played a main draw match in a tournament in the Grand Slam series, the most important in tennis. I had never faced a top 10 athlete in the world rankings. And he had never performed in a court as large as Margaret Court, with a capacity for 7,500 people.
None of this intimidated him.
“I simply enjoyed the moment in this incredible place,” said the 18-year-old Brazilian, at the end of his straight sets victory over Russian Andrei Rublev, world number nine, in the first round of the Australian Open. “I want to thank the public, many Brazilians cheering. I simply enjoyed every moment.”
Surrounded by expectations due to his enormous talent and recent results, with two titles in minor championships, the Rio native knew how to deal with the spotlight. With praise from people like Roger Federer and Boris Becker, he had personality in difficult moments and was calmer than the explosive Rublev, nine years older.
“I was just focused on my game, trying not to put pressure on myself, playing in a huge stadium. I tried to take advantage of the crowd and play my game. I tried to put intensity in the important points. In the important points, I play better, I will for the points”, he declared.
Still at Margaret Court, Fonseca answered a question from the official broadcast interview, a question about how much his talent cost. “As Roger says”, he replied, with the naturalness of someone who considers Federer to be almost a colleague, “talent doesn’t cut it”. “You have to work hard. I put in hard work,” he added.
The young man then asked to say “one last thing” and abandoned the English used in the conversation until that moment to shout: “This is Brazil! Let’s go!”.
