While Zverev was having a full-circle moment in Vienna, Joao Fonseca was experiencing something something similar 400 or so miles to the west in Basel.
Like Zverev, Fonseca made a splash of his own in Melbourne in January. The 18-year-old Brazilian came out of qualifying to light the tournament up with his first-round win over ninth-seeded Andrey Rublev. It was a “star is born” moment, and Fonseca only added to the mania when he went to Argentina a couple of weeks later and immediately won his first title.
In a post-Carlos Alcaraz world, expectations were even higher for Fonseca then they might have been in the recent past. Alcaraz had stormed the tour three years earlier at 18, belting forehand winners, flying from corner to corner, and finishing the season with a Grand Slam title. Fonseca, with his own rocket forehand, precocious mentality, and frenzied fanbase, looked like he might be ready to follow Alcaraz up the ATP mountain.
Somewhere along the line this season, the samba went quiet. Fonseca didn’t reach another final. He made early exits most weeks. He found out that a serve and a forehand may not be enough on most days. He came to Basel with a decent but hardly Alcarazian 21-15 record. In other words, Fonseca learned the ropes and took his lumps like most young players.
