Brazilian tennis player Joao Fonseca capped off a perfect week by lifting the trophy at the Next Gen ATP Finals, a tournament that brings together the best young tennis talents under 20 over the past 12 months in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
In the title match for the most promising young tennis players, the 18-year-old Joao Fonseca defeated American Learner Tien by 2-4, 4-3(8), 4-0, 4-2 at King Abdullah Sports City to become the second youngest champion in the tournament’s history. He also remained undefeated in his five matches this week, and in addition added a record 526,480 USD in prize money.
“I was really nervous before the match. I knew it was going to be so difficult”, said Joao Fonseca before lifting the trophy with former world’s number one Rafael Nadal watching from the stands. “I played a final against Lerner at the 2023 US Open juniors and I know the way he can play. He’s such a good guy and a great player, so I knew it was going to be tough, both mentally and physically. But I’m glad I got through it”, added the young Brazilian tennis player.
To prove his progress, Joao Fonseca started the year ranked 730th in the ATP rankings, but will start 2025 at No 145.
Although he showed potential several times in 2024, he came to Jeddah as the lowest-ranked player. But that status didn’t stop him from winning five impressive victories in Saudi Arabia, including five-set victories over top-seeded Arthur Fils and third-seeded Jakub Mensik.
Joao Fonseca had to prove all that in the final, which started badly for him. Learner Tien took the first set and in the second he was on a tiebreak point at 8-7 to double his lead in the sets. But after taking advantage of a minor error by his opponent to equalize, the Brazilian dominated and took control of the match with a few furious forehands. He easily through the third set and found a decisive breakthrough in the fifth game of the fourth after Learner Tien had dropped his level sharply.
Stable serving was the key to Joao Fonseca’s comeback. He won 83% (34/41) of his first serve points, while also triumphing with 68% (15/22) of his second serve points.
The eight best young tennis players were divided into two groups of four, after which the top two from each went to the semifinals. There, Joao Fonseca eliminated Luca Van Assche (France) by 4-2, 4-2, 4-1, while Learner Tien dealt with his compatriot, world’s No 41 Alex Michelsen by 2-4, 4-2, 1-4, 4-0, 4-1.
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