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Raducanu’s coach Mark Petchey weighs in on the hype around Joao Fonseca

Originally posted on HITC | By Cameron Greenlees | Last updated Mar 17, 2026 12:27 PM ET

Joao Fonseca has long been touted as the next breakout star in tennis, expected by some to challenge the stronghold held by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

The 19-year-old Brazilian first made headlines last year when he captured his first two titles at ATP Tour-level events. But while there’s no shortage of excitement around him, Fonseca is still looking for his first deep run on one of tennis’s biggest stages.

Fonseca did show some growth at the Indian Wells Open though, pushing eventual champion Sinner to a pair of tiebreaks. That match caught the eye of Emma Raducanu’s coach Mark Petchey, who was full of praise afterward.

Joao Fonseca tipped for top ten by Mark Petchey

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Petchey spoke about Fonseca’s potential on ‘The Big T’, saying: “Minimum top 10. Potentially multiple majors.

“I think in this modern day you have to come with something pretty special. You have to come with weapons.

“There will be arguments about if his movement is good enough and can you hit the ball as hard as he does for seven straight matches over the best of five because it takes an amazing amount of energy.

“That is going to sap him potentially. We have not seen those kinds of deep runs at a major.

Fans had already been excited by what they saw from Fonseca at Indian Wells, so it’s only natural that praise like this only adds fuel to the fire. It’ll be interesting to see how he backs it up for the rest of 2024, and how far he can go in Miami, which will give us another good look at how far along his progress truly is.

Brad Gilbert weighs in on Joao Fonseca’s future

“The hard part is that he needs to be a little more consistent and improve his willingness to play defence, but what I saw from this tournament is that he really pushed Sinner,” Gilbert continued.

“He could have easily won that first set and he was dropping 137mph at night, I did not realise he could serve that big.

“I think he works hard. I think he really has a great shot to jump in the mix with Sinner and Alcaraz.

Fonseca will now turn his attention towards the Miami Open, where he’ll be making just his second appearance at the tournament.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

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