Joao Fonseca était très attendu pour ses débuts à Roland-Garros, il n'a pas déçu. Le jeune brésilien de 18 ans, star montante du circuit, était la cause d'une file d'attente gigantesque devant les portes du Court 7 en fin d'après-midi. Tout le monde voulait voir le Sud-Américain, vainqueur en trois petits sets d'une pointure en Grand Chelem, Hubert Hurkacz (6-2, 6-4, 6-2). "Un rêve devenu réalité d'accéder au 2e tour" a soufflé le jeune carioca en conférence de presse. Prochain adversaire : Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
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00:00BNP Paribas, partenaire des plus belles histoires de Roland-Garros, aux côtés des ramasseurs de balles depuis plus de 50 ans.
00:19Congrats, Joao.
00:20How much did you enjoy the atmosphere out there on court 7?
00:24I mean, it's always good to play in front of the Brazilian crowd.
00:32Maybe 80% of the crowd was Brazilian, so that's super nice.
00:37And I just enjoy every moment.
00:40It's my first time playing here at Tomendra for Roland-Garros, and I really, really enjoyed.
00:46And, yeah, it's just a dream come true to achieve the round two.
00:54We'll start with English questions.
00:57Hello, Joao. Congrats for the win.
00:59Is it special for you to have your first win in Roland-Garros when you know the relationship between Roland-Garros and Brazilian athletes, Gustavo Corten?
01:09Yeah, of course. I'm really happy.
01:11It's a dream.
01:12We have Guga, which he's a legend of the sport.
01:19He's a legend for us, Brazilians, not because of his tennis, but because of his charisma, the way that he talks to people, the way that he does his interviews, and et cetera.
01:30And, yeah, it's just really an honor to be here in front of the Brazilian crowd playing, and had a great performance like today.
01:44Hi, Joao. Parabéj.
01:47In English, a lot, a lot, a lot of spectators wanted to see your game tonight.
01:52To be honest, I've never seen a so long queue outside the court.
01:58How does it feel for you, and are you surprised to be welcomed so well in Paris?
02:04I mean, I knew there was going to be a lot of Brazilians here in Paris.
02:08There are a lot of Brazilians living here, and they come a lot.
02:12I think because of Guga, because of the tradition, and there's a lot of Brazilians.
02:18I knew when I was walking to the court, and I saw even the line was just huge to go to enter the court.
02:23And even the people on Philippe Chatrier or Suzanne Langland, like, watching, they just remember me at Deja Vu,
02:31because I played on this court against De Bru, on the quarters in 2022, and I lost the match.
02:38And it was really nice to be there again, and perform really well in this amazing stadium with the crowd.
02:46Well, Dan, congratulations.
02:48To be the Urquats is not easy, not a task.
02:50I mean, then 6'2", 6'4", 6'2", quite easy almost.
02:55And did you expect that?
02:57And I saw you had always a lot of crowd behind in Miami, in Australia, here.
03:05I mean, that is becoming a routine, or you expect to be like that everywhere all the time?
03:14I mean, the expectations are going to come.
03:15People are going to talk, compare with other people, other players.
03:22And for my mentality, it's just good to be with good people that can help me to stay,
03:28to be with a good mentality that I need to do the best that I can improve, my routines,
03:37stay with good people, stay healthy, and not focusing on the expectations.
03:44And, yeah, I managed to do very well, but sometimes the pressure is going to come.
03:50It's normal, and you need to deal with it.
03:52Me, I'm young, and I'm, like, getting the experience of everything now.
04:02So I'm learning a lot from this circuit and this environment that's going to become,
04:10there's going to come a lot of expectations.
04:12And about Hubie, it's just, I just played my best, my best.
04:18I played really well, focusing a lot on the returns and serves.
04:23I knew it was going to come a lot of great serves,
04:25and I was just focusing and put the first return in the ball, the plus one, return plus one,
04:32put in the middle and try to be aggressive as I can.
04:35and try to be, to focus on the opportunities, go to the net,
04:41and try to be aggressive when I can.
04:46So, yeah, it was a great match.
04:48I'm really happy the way that I did my game serves, my service games.
04:53So I can say that it was an amazing match.
04:58Hi, Joao.
04:59What, at this point, do you consider your greatest strength as a tennis player,
05:07and where do you think there is the most room for improvement for you?
05:12I mean, there's a lot to improve,
05:17but I can say that maybe my forehand is my bad skill,
05:24but with everything, I think my mentality is really good.
05:29I mean, it's difficult to play in those kind of tournaments with this environment
05:33and with a lot of expectations, young.
05:37So I would say my mentality is good.
05:40Like I said, the pressure is going to come.
05:43There's going to be, I mean, the last few tournaments I got into pressure.
05:48I was not feeling very well on court.
05:51I feel a little bit more tense and not enjoying very much.
05:54And, yeah, now I'm feeling very comfortable.
05:59I'm feeling very happy on court, happy and playing good.
06:04And, yeah, so, I mean, to improve, I think,
06:10of course, there are going to be, like, backhand.
06:14I need to improve my backhand, my serves, my nat skills.
06:17So those are things that it's going to come by time.
06:23And my defense also needs to improve a little bit more on clay.
06:28And, yeah, I think those things.
06:32And, yeah, I think that's it.
06:34And what surface do you enjoy playing on the most now
06:40and which eventually do you think might be your best surface?
06:44I mean, I hope it's going to be grass.
06:47I love playing on grass.
06:48I think it's really nice, I hope.
06:52But for now, I think I'm playing better on clay.
06:55I was born on clay.
06:57Us Brazilians, I almost started playing on hard
07:00when it was, like, 11, 12, something like that,
