Miami
Alcaraz to test Fonseca theory in Miami
Spaniards and Brazilians meet for the first time
March 20, 2026
ATP Tour
Carlos Alcaraz and Joao Fonseca are both former Next Generation ATP Finals champions.
Sam Jacott
World No. 2 Jannik Sinner defeated 19-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca in the pair’s first Lexus ATP meeting last week at the BNP Paribas Open, with the Italian saving three set points and winning two tiebreaks in Indian Wells.
World number one Carlos Alcaraz was one of those watching closely and he came away impressed.
“Obviously when someone goes head-to-head with Janik, that means he has to play great tennis and perform really, really well,” Alcaraz said when asked about Fonseca in Indian Wells. “I couldn’t watch the whole match, but I saw Joao playing great tennis. I’m really happy to see Joao play like this, to reach this level.”
Alcaraz also predicts that Fonseca’s rise is just beginning, and he won’t have to wait long to test the theory himself. The world number one will face the Brazilian for the first time on Friday night at the Miami Open hosted by ETA in a match that is already rife with intrigue.
While this will be their first tour, the pair are no strangers to the genre. They shared the court at the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals, when Fonseca was a sparring partner, and trained together again at Wimbledon last year.
By the age of 19, Alcaraz had already won the U.S. Open, rose to world number one, and won two ATP Masters 1000 trophies. Fonseca’s resume is still growing, with titles at the ATP 250 and 500 levels, but his rapid progress has not gone unnoticed.
Now, under the stadium lights, the Brazilians will look to fulfill that expectation and potentially deliver a shocking result when they take on the top seeds in the second round just before 7pm local time.
