The tennis player João Fonseca makes this Friday (19) his debut-and that of a Brazilian-at Laver Cup, exhibition tournament created in 2017 by Roger Federer and Jorge Paulo Lemann.
The competition, which is not worth points for the ATP ranking, brings together 12 tennis players, divided into Time Europa, only with athletes from the continent, and Time Mundo, with players from other regions.
Champion of eight titles from Grand Slam and former number 1 in the world, André Agassi is the coach of the World team, with Australian Patrick Rafter as his deputy. Roland Garros champion in 1983, Frenchman Yannick Noah leads team Europa, with Briton Tim Henman as deputy.
The call considers the ranking of the players after the Grand Slam of Roland Garros, with three more choices at the discretion of the technicians. If any player refuses, the next in the ranking is called.
Current 42nd in the world, Fonseca was summoned in May by Agassi, and joins Taylor Fritz (5th), Alex Michelsen (32nd) and Reilly Opelka (62nd) from the United States; Francisco Cerundolo (21st), from Argentina; and Alex de Minaur (8th), from Australia.
“John is the kind of young talent that makes Laver Cup so special. He is fearless, full of energy, plays very well and loves the big stages. His performance this season shows me that he is ready for it. I’m sure he will stand out in the team environment and I look forward to working with him and knowing him better,” Agassi said on the call.
“I follow the event since I was a child and always dreamed of playing. Being in a team with guys like Fritz, and being trained by André Agassi, is simply unbelievable. I will give everything about me,” said João.
The European Team Compares Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the current leader of the ranking, as well as German Alexander Zverev (3rd), Danish Holger Rune (11th), Norwegian Casper Ruud (12th), as well as Czech Jakub Mensik (17th) and Italian Flavio Cobolli (25th). Vice-leader, Italian Jannik Sinner declined the invitation to participate in the competition for the first time.
In its eighth edition, the traveling tournament takes place between Friday and Sunday (21) at the NBA Chase Center-Golden State Warriors in San Francisco, California, United States. The dispute is always on a hard floor and covered court. In 2026, she goes to London.
The score of disputes varies according to the day: one point by victory on Friday, two points on Saturday and three on Sunday. The team that reaches 13 points first is the champion. There are three simple games a day, and one doubles.
This Friday, the first game is between Casper Ruud and Reilly Opelka, at 5 pm (Brasília time), followed by Jakub Mensik and Alex Michelsen. At 23h, João Fonseca enters the court against Flavio Cobolli.
They already faced each other once on the circuit, with Cobolli taking the best in the first round of Halle ATP 500 in June.
In the last game of the day, pairs, Carlos Alcaraz and Jakub Mensik face Taylor Fritz and Alex Michelsen.
The matches have up to three sets, with the last partial in the form of “match-tiebreak”, up to ten points.
Team Europa has five titles, against two from the World team. Laver Cup is transmitted from ESPN and Disney+.
