Carlos Alcaraz asked if he is ‘worried’ about Joao Fonseca and ATP Tour rising stars
Carlos Alcaraz insists that he is not “worried” by the rise of Joao Fonseca and other ATP Tour rising stars as he and Jannik Sinner look to maintain their dominance within the sport.
World No 1 Alcaraz and No 2 Sinner have been the two leading men’s tennis players in recent years, and the duo have combined to win the last nine Grand Slam titles between them.
With a 38-year-old Novak Djokovic still arguably the closest player to matching and rivalling the two, all eyes are on whether and when a player — or players — from the next generation will begin to challenge their dominance.
Teen star Fonseca is among those often named as a future rival for Alcaraz and Sinner, and the Brazilian got his first chance to test himself against one of the ‘New 2’ this week in Indian Wells.
The Brazilian impressed greatly in a 7-6(6), 7-6(4) loss to world No 2 Sinner in the fourth round, with the Italian full of praise for the 19-year-old after their first-ever meeting.
With Fonseca joined alongside the likes of Jakub Mensik, Learner Tien, and Arthur Fils in making significant breakthroughs in recent seasons, the future for the ATP looks bright.
However, Alcaraz appears not to be too threatened by a growing number of rising stars working their way up the rankings.
Asked if he was “worried” about the likes of Fonseca during his Indian Wells press conference on Wednesday, the seven-time Grand Slam champion issued a dismissive response.
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He replied: “No, no. Why would I be worried about? No, no, no, I know it. But I think…”
When pressed further about Fonseca and the Brazilian’s match against Sinner, Alcaraz shared his thought’s about the teen star’s future.
“Yeah, I saw a little bit. I couldn’t see the full match, but I saw that Joao is playing great tennis,” added the world No 1.
“Obviously when someone is going toe to toe with Jannik 7-6, 7-6, that means he had to play great tennis and perform really, really well.
“So really happy to see Joao, you know, growing up and see him, you know, playing these kind of matches, this kind of level.
“I’m, you know, a player and a person who loves seeing the player growing. As a person, as a player, he’s really young, and for sure he’s gonna learn from this experience.
“But, yeah, just really happy to see where Joao is right now, and for sure, we’re gonna see more of Joao in the future.”
Alcaraz and Sinner are still on a collision course in Indian Wells, with the two projected to meet in the final.
The Spaniard, who is yet to lose a match in 2026, lifted the Indian Wells title in 2023 and 2024 and will face 2021 champion and 27th seed Cameron Norrie in the last eight.
Meanwhile, Sinner — who is aiming to win the title for the first time — is set to do battle with 25th seed Tien.
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