“We were spot on”: Brad Gilbert’s bold prediction for Joao Fonseca becomes reality

One of the big stars of the ATP Tour season was undoubtedly Brazilian Joao Fonseca, who has garnered wide attention due to his rapid evolution. At just 19 years old, he is already a two-time ATP champion: his first title came at the Buenos Aires Open—beating none other than Francisco Cerundolo—and the second at the ATP 500 Swiss Open, overcoming Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final.

One of those who saw early on the evolution the South American would have was none other than Brad Gilbert, Coco Gauff's former coach, who made a bold prediction on social media a year ago.

Fonseca's appearance on the Tour has been rapid, even for someone who generated great expectations from an early age. In 2023, he finished the year as Junior No. 1 and was the 2023 US Open boys' singles champion. He debuted in an ATP tournament in 2024 at 17 years old. Ranked No. 655, he received a wild card for the Rio Open, where he beat 7th seed Arthur Fils and former champion Cristian Garin. He became the first player born in 2006 to get an ATP-level win and advanced more than 300 positions in the ranking.

After alternating between Futures and Challenger tournaments during 2024, Fonseca qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals, entering at the last minute as the 8th seed and being the youngest in the draw. It was an absolute surprise, as he took 5 consecutive wins and claimed the title, beating Learner Tien in the final. Fonseca joined a list of players who had previously been crowned at the Next Gen event, which includes Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, among others.

Fonseca ended the 2024 season as world No. 145, and people were already talking about the Brazilian teenager's talent. In an X (formerly Twitter) post, a user shared in December 2024 that "He is a future top 10 player in the world. Arguably the best racquet head speed I have ever seen." The user ended the post assuring that Fonseca would finish 2025 inside the top 25 and 2026 inside the top 5.

On that occasion, Gilbert—a coach recognized for his partnerships with Andy Roddick, Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori, and more recently with Coco Gauff—replied to the fan's post, showing his agreement that Fonseca would rapidly install himself among the best. “Has big time game wouldn’t be surprised 😮 at this time next year is top 25,” Gilbert replied, a post that resurfaced this Sunday.

Fonseca effectively managed to finish the 2025 season as world No. 24, precisely fulfilling Gilbert's prediction. The user “AliasTheGreat”, who had started the X thread, replied to the post from a year ago mentioning Gilbert: “We were spot on BG”.

The American coach responded by giving a new prediction for 2026, where he expects Fonseca to further consolidate his position in the elite of the ATP Tour: “Yep 👍 and good chance will be top 10 by this time next year”.

The 19-year-old Fonseca recently opted to skip the Next Gen ATP Finals, preferring to take a break—a decision that differs from young stars like Jakub Mensik and Learner Tien, who will go in search of the prize money and glory in the tournament to be held in Jeddah.

Fonseca finished the 2025 season with a 26–16 record and 2 titles, in addition to more than 1.7 million dollars in prize money. The world No. 24 also took his first win against a top-10 tennis player just as the year began at the Australian Open against Andrey Rublev. Since then, he has achieved several victories against heavyweights on the Tour, including Denis Shapovalov, Hubert Hurkacz, Ugo Humbert, and Davidovich Fokina, among others.