indian wells
Fonseca: “I feel healthy and happy on the pitch again”
Brazilian reflects on crowd support, why he always plays so hard and more
March 5, 2026
ATP Tour
Joao Fonseca thanked the fans after beating Rafael Collignon to reach the second round in Indian Wells on Wednesday night.
Andrew Eikenholz
“Joao Fonseca! Joao Fonseca!”
The 19-year-old beat Rafael Collignon 7-6(2), 6-4 in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday night, with Joao Fonseca’s national anthem playing throughout. Whether it was between points and matches, during switches or after matches, the enthusiastic crowd carried the two-time ATP Tour singles champion on their figurative shoulders and secured him victory.
“I just pushed as hard as I could,” Fonseca told ATPTour.com. “I just wanted to bring them to me to give me the strength to keep going.”
The slogan has followed Fonseca around the world, with fans around the world showing their support for the rising star. According to the Brazilian, the first time he felt such support was at a junior championship at his hometown country club in Rio de Janeiro.
“This is the first time I feel very, very stressed because I am seeded No. 1 and I have a wild card into the Roland Garros junior main draw,” Fonseca said. “I won the game and it was the first time my club had a lot of people cheering for me. Of course, I felt a little pressure, but it was fun.”
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The teen fondly recalls his memories of hitting the ball as hard as he could in his youth in the sport. Sometimes the ball would hit the ground, but a lot of the time it would fly into the back fence.
Today, Fonseca has learned to control his power and unleash it against the best players in the world. This helped him reach a career-high No. 24 in the PIF ATP Rankings and win the ATP 500 title in Basel last October.
“I always like to hit hard,” Fonseca said. “Mainly on important points, when there’s a little bit of pressure, I just want to do it. I want to do what I normally practice, not just [push] ball. I’ve always been this way and this will always be me. This is something I can’t change.
“Of course, I just need to be more solid and more consistent. I need to improve my consistency, but this is who I am and I can’t change it.”
Fonseca enters the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the season with a 1-3 record according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. But the 2024 Next Generation ATP Finals champion is dealing with a back injury and showed signs of improvement in Rio de Janeiro, where he partnered compatriot Marcelo Melo to win the doubles title.
Now that the second round of the crowd favorite is about to take place in the California desert, the Sunshine Tag Team is building momentum.
“It’s always good. After the first two months of the year I struggled with injuries and then came back [getting the] Rhythm,” Fonseca said. “I feel healthy again and happy to be back on the court again. I just feel good and happy with the way I played today.”
