The young Brazilian tennis player João Fonseca, 18, was still a child when the Swiss Roger Federer was at his peak on the court, in the mid-2000s.
Winner of 20 Grand Slam titles, the former number 1 in the ranking, retired in 2022, was named by Fonseca as one of his great inspirations in the sport, alongside Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten.
“My idol has always been Roger [Federer]. I grew up watching Roger. I think everyone wanted to play like him”, said Fonseca after his victory against Russian Andrey Rublev in the first round of the Australian Open this Tuesday (14), in Melbourne.
The Brazilian’s sponsor is the sporting goods company On, which has Federer as one of its partners.
Fonseca’s off-court career is closely monitored by his parents, and also has the sponsorship of the brokerage XP Investimentos — his father, Christiano Fonseca Filho, comes from the financial market and is one of the founders of the management company IP Capital Partners.
“Guga, of course, is not only my idol as a player, but as a person. He is a very nice person. I got to meet him and I think these two are my idols,” added Fonseca.
Following the Brazilian tennis player’s statements, a photo of Fonseca as a child, alongside Brazilian idol Gustavo Kuerten, went viral in the last few hours on social media.
In his next match at the Australian Open, Fonseca will face the Italian Lorenzo Sonego, 29 years old, 55th in the world, who won 3 sets to 1 against the Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka – in the only previous confrontation with Sonego, on clay in Bucharest, last year , the Brazilian won by 2 sets to 0.
