“He reminds me a lot [of me] when I was his age” : Carlos Alcaraz on Joao Fonseca
Carlos Alcaraz stormed into the third round of the 2026 Miami Open, as he defeated Joao Fonseca in straight sets. The Spaniard reserved some high praise for his opponent, who is still in the early days of his tennis career.
Carlos Alcaraz stated that he sees glimpses of his younger self in Joao Fonseca, and backs the Brazilian to come out good in the upcoming years. The world number one stated that even he first faced Rafael Nadal almost five years ago, he learnt a lot from the encounter, and had plenty of talking points.
The Spaniard believes that matches like these will help the Brazilian and his team, as he also faced Jannik Sinner at the Indian Wells last week. He also stated that the 19-year-old has several things to improve, such as making the right choice of shots, which he expects will develop over time. Carlos Alcaraz said:
”When I played the best tennis players in the world when I was coming out, it did really help me a lot,” Alcaraz said. ”Those matches gave me the feedback to know what I should improve in the practices. I’m pretty sure he and his team talk about that and then go into the practices and see what he should improve and how he should deal with some situations.”
”He reminds me a lot [of me] when I was his age and just coming up. I would say he should choose the better option. Sometimes he missed a few shots or sometimes he missed a lot of easy balls because he doesn’t choose the right shots, the right ball in certain situations. I’m pretty sure he’s going to get it.”
Carlos Alcaraz on how he dealt with a hostile crowd during Fonseca clash
Carlos Alcaraz faced a hostile atmosphere in Miami during his second round clash, as the stadium was packed with fans cheering on for Joao Fonseca. However, Alcaraz looks to see the better side of things, and stated that fans were cheering on for the Brazilian, rather than disrespecting him.
Additionally, he also stated that he was grateful to enjoy such atmosphere in only the second round of the Miami Open. He also stated that he did not want to silence anybody, as he respected all fans who made it to the stadium.
”I would like to say it wasn’t against me, it was supporting him. So I think that’s a big difference, which I would say they were respectful, I would say most of the match, just supporting him when they have to. So it was great, and I just enjoyed the atmosphere so much that I just lived in the second round of a Masters 1000. I think it was incredible to be honest. I didn’t want to silence anybody. I just wanted to just [be] doing my stuff, doing my job and trying to play my best, because I know Joao, what he’s able to do,” Alcaraz added.
