Joao Fonseca

Press Conference

J. SINNER/J. Fonseca

7-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Joao, tough luck. A great match tonight. What do you think made the difference in the end?

JOAO FONSECA: Yeah, I think it was a good match. Since the first point, I think it was very tight. I mean, I was playing good tennis out there, and I felt really good today.

I think the difference is the important points. Of course I had some sad points in the first set, and, well, he served well. There was a good point that he put a lot of pressure.

So, yeah, I think the credit was for him today. I did my best, the best I could. Yeah, there are, of course, some things to work on and be ready for our next match, for sure.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. What are your kind of overriding emotions after that? Is it pride of pushing him so close? Is it disappointment?

JOAO FONSECA: As a tennis player, I can say that when we lose, we kind of feel sad or disappointed sometime, trying to figure out what I did right, what I did wrong. But of course I'm happy the way that I played.

For myself, I don't normally think that I need to be mad at myself when I played good, when I did everything good, and the opponent has the credit.

Yeah, I just try to figure out what I could do better. Maybe I could serve better in the 6-5 in the tiebreak that I had. I don't know. It's always an "if" that we, I mean, we can't change the past, so we need to focus on the future.

I mean, I'm happy the way that I played, like I said, but of course there are some things to work on.

Q. This was the first time you and Jannik played against each other. The first time you play, you usually need to do some adjustment because you don't know your opponent's game. What was the aspect of Jannik's game that actually caused you the biggest amount of troubles?

JOAO FONSECA: I think he puts a lot of pressure, not only the serves -- well, today he served pretty well. He won a lot of points serving, a lot of important points, as well.

I would say he puts a lot of pressure every time when he's nervous. When he's tight, he puts a lot of pressure. Doesn't matter the time. He hits the ball strongly.

Yeah, so he puts a lot of pressure. You don't think sometimes he's tight, because you can feel it, you can feel the ball, just heavy, but yeah, I mean, that's a thing that I felt, intensity of the game. It's pretty, all the games, like, 100%, you need to be always ready, always focused.

Yeah, that's the main difference, I think the intensity, the way that he plays important points.

Of course the consistency, he normally don't do unforced errors. Yeah, that's the thing was the main difference from today, as well.

Q. These two guys, Alcaraz and Sinner, have a big lead in the ranking points, and they're winning the big titles. How does a match like this make you feel as far as your ability to, you know, approach their level?

JOAO FONSECA: Well, I think the level, my level, it's pretty, like, I mean, I can play against them. I can do some great matches. But there is always the little things, the little important things that you need to work every day.

I mean, those little details just super important, like when he played the important points, like how he deal with it. So of course a lot of experience, I still need it, but I think the level is still there. Of course far, but I can play against them. I mean, of course much more things to improve, but I feel happy the way that I played, because I felt the level was pretty close today.

Q. Actually playing Jannik for the first time over here, did it meet your expectations? Did it exceed your expectations? Or was it approximately what you were expecting it to be?

JOAO FONSECA: I mean, I wanted to win, of course, but like I said, I was happy the way that I played, because I put a lot of pressure. I think the rallies were good. I was putting pressure the way that I wanted, and yeah, I served well, I tried to do the returns that I could.

But he was serving well, as well. So, I mean, I think I kind of managed to -- I mean, my expectations were okay. I was just trying to put what I could in the court and trying to see how it is.

Of course I saw some opportunities, so I got a little bit more with a little bit of expectations, because you're playing against ex-top 1 guy.

But yeah, like I say, the level was there, but the good things that I need to work with a lot of things to reach this level.