At his first press conference at Roland Garros, João Fonseca answered many questions about the pressure. At age 18, he arrives at the France’s open surrounded by expectations, although it is still the 65th of the world ranking. It is the price of success.
Ironically, defeats in recent weeks (both in the first round, Estoril, Portugal, in late April, and Rome in early May) a little put the pressure on the carioca tennis player. But the interview, as well as the first training in Roland Garros, caught the attention of the international press.
“It’s not that I don’t like to talk about the pressure. I just think I have to avoid, I don’t need to be thinking about it all the time, but what I have to do, work, improve, evolve,” said Fonseca, who will debut against the world’s number 31, Polish Hubert Hurkacz, a tough opponent. The game will probably be scheduled for Monday (26).
How do you deal with all the attention you get being so young and new in the professional circuit?
I’m just enjoying my professional life. I am reaching good things. I’m young, so I’m learning every week. How do I read? I will do my best. I try to focus on my routine, what I need to do. Focus on good people by my side, helping me to win good things. I’m learning every week how to adapt. Things are following their own way. Just focus on my routines and play in my time.
What did you learn from your campaign at Australian Open (reached the second round) and what could you bring to this tournament?
I think it was the biggest stadium I’ve ever played. It was the first Top 10 player I faced (defeated number 9, Andrei Rublev, in the first round). The crowd was huge. I learned how to play in these stadiums. It was an experience for me. My first main key. After Australia, a lot has changed. Now I’m a little more experienced in this kind of circumstance.
How is your confidence level right now?
Feeling well. Having good training. Winning sets against very good players. Feeling well. I understand that tennis is a sport. Like any other sport, you have ups and downs. You won’t be at the top all the time. Sometimes you are not very confident. You need to deal with. At the same time, I’m feeling very confident. I’m playing very well. It’s my first time here. It’s another experience. As I said, I want to learn every week.
Which surface you consider your best at the moment?
As I was born on the clay, I would say clay. But after last year I played much more to the hard court. I played seven months in hard straight. I’m kind of adapted to hard too. But the surface I want to play best is the grass. So it’s kind of a mixture.
What is the difference between playing on clay and hard at the ATP level?
I don’t know. I don’t really know, because I played well on the clay. I played a week I won in Buenos Aires. I moved to the hard again. And then I moved to the clay again. I felt that my head at the beginning of the clay tournament, [ainda] It was harder. I was playing on the clay as I needed to play hard. My head was mixing a little. And now I’m adapting a little more.
Has it a little more surrounded, protected, has helped to deal with the pressure?
For sure. As I said in other interviews, I think it’s important to me now, now that I’m young, evolving, being with good people who help you strengthen, who have the same goal of growing up. And they are protecting me from expectations, from people talking a lot, I think it’s very good. I have the same vision: the more I am focused on my tennis, what I have to do in my routines, and not focused on the media, the expectations that people talk about, in comparisons, I think my tennis will improve and I will have a more successful career.
How did you mentally worked expectations not achieved in Rome and Madrid to get well in Roland Garros? And how do you deal with the longing for the family?
I’ve always been a boy who missed the family on long days. Even more people who are from South America, we have difficulty, because we have to come to Europe, or to the United States, is already a change of spindle and flight hours. So I have to be really more weeks here, then come back, and when I come back, I have at least a week.
About the cracked turns: As I said before, the tennis player, like any other athlete, has ups and downs. I think it wasn’t any time when I was lacking confidence. This year is a time when I’m evolving, obviously, but I’m still learning how to deal with all this pressure. I think more and more I understand how to deal with, how to face, and how to play these difficult games, because now at this level, in these big tournaments, it won’t come an easy game, and we know it. So every game has to go with everything. This week now, that I was in Rio, it was a little to reflect, and I’m already feeling much better on the court, more comfortable, happier and more confident too.
What is it like to play in Roland Garros for the first time and what did you think of your first opponent, Polish Hubert Hurkacz?
It’s always good, Paris, it was my first Grand Slam, like youth. So, I think this wonderful tournament I find the most traditional, most beautiful, clay, because as I said, I was born on the clay and because I like the clay, I think it’s beautiful. And Paris is different, really is different, and I don’t like to talk about the pressure. I just think I have to avoid, I don’t need to be thinking about it all the time, but what I have to do, work, improve, evolve.
The game against Hurkacz will be very difficult, a player I never trained with. It will be a new experience. A player who is experienced on the tour. It’s not his best surface, but in the same way, he’s a top 30 player, it was already Top 10, so it will be very difficult.
