ROLEX MONTE-CARLO MASTERS

April 6, 2026

Joao Fonseca

Press Conference

J. FONSECA/G. Diallo

6-2, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Joao, well done for your first match here in Monte-Carlo. What's been your impression of the city and the tournament so far?

JOAO FONSECA: Well, such a cool city. It's small, but it's super, super nice.

Yeah, I felt great today. Good match, great tournament. My first time on that court, and it was super special.

Yeah, happy the way that I played today and that I stayed positive in the second set.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. I thought you were really solid today and made him play a lot from the baseline. That side of your game, how did the solid part of your game develop over the years? When you were younger, did that come before your big weapons or did you always have your big weapons and you had to learn to be more solid?

JOAO FONSECA: Yeah, I think I had my weapons, forehand/backhand, more forehand, more power, but I developed this to become more solid when I became older.

Yeah, to play on clay, I was born on clay. I needed patience, but I felt like I could hit very hard and win every point. But sometimes it was a winner; sometimes it was directly to the fence. But I kind of understood that I need to work on the point and be patient.

So, yeah, clay gave me this, and yeah, it's different from hard, but I'm feeling great on court.

Q. Curious about your career so far, the steps. Those two matches in United States, in Indian Wells with Sinner and then in Miami with Carlos, there was a lot of talking about you're close but not so close. How are you going through this process? Because a lot of people talk about your course, it's gonna be the third one, the third one. How are you handling this situation? It's something that is bothering you, something you don't care? I'm kind of curious to understand this process.

JOAO FONSECA: Well, I think it's something -- well, I played both of them, and it was good matches, but I'm not close yet. I hope in the future, soon, I'll be. I'll say it was close matches, but they play like this, like, every match.

So they play this level every match, and I need to be more consistent. I need to work harder. But, yeah, I think I'm in the right path. I think I'm the right way.

Everyone has their time. My time will come. I'm doing great, so yeah, keep with this routine, keep with this mentality to work quietly and hard, but yeah, I think the expectations are going to come. People see young players doing great things, and they pull us into the top of the rankings. People need time. Everyone has their own time, so I want to do my history. I hope I'll be there competing against them, but people need to understand that I need time to become what they want me to do and I want to become.

I want to become No. 1, but I know I need to take time. I'm still 40 in the world, so I need to be humble to understand this. Yeah, I think hopefully I can have a bright future ahead.

Q. I wanted to ask about a shot, the smash, like, the overhead. With Novak Djokovic, obviously he's such a complete player, but the one shot in his game that even he jokes about that isn't as great is his smash. Do you consider the smash a tricky shot, like a challenging shot, or is it something quite straightforward? I have asked different players, and everyone gave a different answer.

JOAO FONSECA: I don't know. It's something that we work less than the other shots, my opinion. Yeah, sometimes can be tricky, because it's an easy shot, like easy, but yeah, sometimes it comes in important points and you be more stress, more tension, and you miss more.

I don't know. It's, like, considered an easy shot, but it's tricky sometimes.