Rising Brazilian star believes his game is suited to grass and hopes to soak up lessons from elite clashes

Joao Fonseca stretches to reach a forehand

Brazilian prospect Joao Fonseca is looking forward to testing himself on grass and hopes to learn quickly by absorbing lessons from some of the game’s best.

He played his first professional matches on grass at the Surbiton and Nottingham Challenger events and will make his full ATP Tour debut on the surface at Halle.

In his preparation for the Terra Wortmann Open, he has enjoyed the opportunity to sharpen himself with practice sessions against top players.

Fonseca had a hit out with Greek star and two-time Grand Slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas and on Monday he got a closer look at big-serving American Christopher Eubanks.

Fonseca was watching these players like a hawk, observing their routines down to the smallest detail to see what he can learn.

“Two guys that serve a lot, so it’s really nice to play with those kind of players,” Fonseca said of his Halle hitting partners.

“You can see the little things, what they eat, what’s their routine, what they do for warmup, gym, their preparation. Those little things help you to learn a lot and have a good evolution.”

Fonseca believes that his game is well-suited to grass even if he has little experience on the surface.

He believes that he will need to focus on making his service games count and ensuring that he doesn’t give away any easy breaks that would make it tough for him to stay in matches.

The Brazilian teenager has played 49 of his 55 professional matches on clay.

He has made steady progress in his career to date, enjoying his first Challenger Tour final in Asuncion a few weeks ago and rising to a career-high No 217 in the ATP Rankings.

Fonseca hopes that boldness will serve him well when he plays on grass although it remains to be seen how well he executes his efforts to get to the net.

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“Your service games, you need to make them more important because it’s difficult to break your opponent,” Fonseca said of how he plans to adjust to grass.

“My game is very aggressive. Grass is good, because you need to go to the ball, go to the net. You can’t hesitate very much.”

He has enjoyed his best results in 2024, reaching the last eight at the ATP 500 Rio Open and the ATP 250 Bucharest Open this term and claiming his first Masters series match win in Madrid.

Gustavo Kuerten remains the only Brazilian to win a Grand Slam title in the Open era with all three of his Major wins coming on the clay of Roland Garros.