“I hear players saying he’ll be top 10 this season”: Patrick Mouratoglou discusses Joao Fonseca’s growing recognition among his peers

Naomi Osaka’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, showered young star Joao Fonseca with praise, calling him one of the biggest revelations at the start of 2025. The Brazilian won the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals and is now making a name for himself on the ATP Tour after securing his first top-10 victory at the Australian Open.

Fonseca had to battle through the qualifiers to earn a spot in the main draw and racked up 13 consecutive wins before facing world No. 9 Andrey Rublev in the first round of the Australian Open. The Brazilian produced a stunning performance, overpowering Rublev in straight sets to deliver the tournament’s first major upset.

From Next Gen champion to ATP sensation 

At just 18 years old, Fonseca has now cracked the top 100 for the first time, making him the youngest player in the elite group. Patrick Mouratoglou, Osaka’s current coach and a veteran of both the ATP and WTA Tours, not only praised Fonseca’s potential but revealed that many players are already taking notice of the South American’s rapid rise.

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“I love Fonseca, he’s the new big thing coming up, and I think he’s so exciting,” said the former coach of Holger Rune and Simona Halep. “His personality is like a sun—he’s shining. Very good serve, very good backhand, and his forehand is a literal bomb. I mean, he hit a forehand at 180 km/h, the fastest of the [Australian Open] tournament.”

“He has fire in his racket, but also in his personality. You can see that he wants it, and you can feel his ambition—it’s huge,” Mouratoglou added. “Now, the pressure is already building on him because of what he has achieved, and he’s in the spotlight.”

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Osaka’s coach acknowledged that Fonseca’s level hasn’t gone unnoticed by fellow players, who believe the teenager could quickly rise to the top of the game. “I hear players saying already that Fonseca is going to be top 10 before the end of the season,” he said. “Imagine the progression people see in him in such a short period of time. You can see him really at the top of the game, in the top three.”

Standing at 1.85m, Fonseca has stood out for his powerful serve and one of the most explosive forehands on the Tour. “There’s a shift in the body types of tennis players in recent years,” the Frenchman explained. “They are taller and thinner. Fonseca is one of them—he has incredible power, an incredibly fast forehand. That’s the new tennis,” Mouratoglou concluded.

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