Journey To Jeddah presented by PIF Hub
Journey To Jeddah presented by PIF Hub
As Joao Fonseca jogs on a treadmill, he receives instruction from his coach Guilherme Teixeira. But the direction given had nothing to do with physical fitness or even forehands and backhands.
“Focus on reading books. Let’s try to finish this book by Sunday. Set a goal to do that because it will take you away from other things,” Teixeira said in Portuguese, as featured in our new ‘Journey To Jeddah’ video series, which includes behind-the-scenes footage of Fonseca and his team.
One of the most exciting young superstars in tennis, the Brazilian is not leaving any stone unturned in his pursuit of success. The 18-year-old is full of immense potential and he already carries himself with a poise beyond his years.
“I think I have great maturity and that’s because of this sport,” Fonseca said. “For sure, I’m growing up fast.”
As fast as he is ‘growing up’, the Brazilian is equally rising in the PIF ATP Rankings, in which he is currently the youngest player in the Top 150, an impressive feat for a player who began the season at World No. 730.
Fonseca’s meteoric climb kickstarted with a dream quarter-final run in February at his home tournament, the ATP 500 event in Rio de Janeiro. In just his second tour-level match, Fonseca raced past fellow #NextGenATP star Arthur Fils 6-0, 6-4. The match captured everything fans love about Fonseca, from his fearless shotmaking to infectious youthful energy.
“He has a little bit of that childlike flair,” said analyst Blair Henley. “He might go for shots that you’re thinking, ‘Hmm, that’s maybe not the shot that I would choose to go for — maybe not the safe shot, but that’s what makes him so fun to watch’.”
Ignited by a lightbulb moment in 2023, which Fonseca discusses in the full video above, the teenager is aiming to be amongst the sport’s top eight 20-and-under players next month at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF. The former junior No. 1 — who won his first ATP Challenger Tour title in Lexington, Kentucky in August — is currently seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah with the cutoff date, 2 December, quickly approaching.
“One of the goals of this year was to play the Next Gen ATP Finals. I will prepare myself and hope I can go for it,” Fonseca said. “To play with the best eight players under 20, it’s a dream to play with those guys in this tournament.”
Fonseca’s journey this season has been one of breakthroughs and growth, yet he sees it as just the launching pad.
“My coach says a lot to me, ‘With talent and hard work, the sky’s the limit,’” Fonseca said.
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Felix Auger-Aliassime is the newest member of the ATP Engagement Club.
The Canadian No. 1 announced his engagement to Nina Ghaibi in a social media post on Friday.
“Couldn’t have dreamt of a better forever 🥰❤️💍,” Auger-Aliassime shared in the post that featured two pictures of the couple celebrating their special moment.
Couldn’t have dreamt of a better forever 🥰❤️💍 pic.twitter.com/GSAe9aEjea
— Félix AugerAliassime (@felixtennis) November 29, 2024
Earlier this week, Alexei Popyrin and Casper Ruud also announced their engagements to Amy Pederick and Maria Galligani, respectively.
Last weekend there were multiple weddings involving an ATP Tour player. Bjorn Fratangelo tied the knot with WTA star Madison Keys and American doubles standout Jackson Withrow married Allie Sweeney last week.
The 24-year-old Auger-Aliassime wrapped his 2024 season late in October at the Swiss Indoors Basel, where he reached the second round. The No. 29 player in the PIF ATP Rankings finished the season with a 32-25 match record according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Rafael Nadal is already making the most of his retirement.
The Spaniard, who concluded his professional career at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga last week, crossed paths with Manchester City’s star striker Erling Haaland at the City Football Academy in Manchester on Wednesday.
[ATP APP]The 22-time Grand Slam champion also met fellow Spaniard and Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola.
<img alt=”Rafael Nadal speaks to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/11/29/21/51/rafael-nadal-pep-guardiola-manchester-city.jpg?w=100%25″ />
Rafael Nadal with Pep Guardiola at the Manchester City Football Academy. Photo Credit: MCFC.
He also caught up with the club’s star players Bernando Silva, Jack Grealish and Manuel Akanji.
<img alt=”Rafael Nadal poses with Manchester City player Jack Grealish.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/11/29/21/55/rafael-nadal-jack-grealish-manchester-city.jpg” />
Rafael Nadal with Jack Grealish at the Manchester City Football Academy. Photo Credit: MCFC.
After his visit to Manchester, the famously avid Real Madrid fan was present in the stands at Anfield, supporting his team facing Liverpool in UEFA Champions League action on Wednesday.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Joao Fonseca has qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF and the Jeddah field is now set.
The Brazilian becomes the eighth player to qualify for the 20-and-under event, due to be held from 18-22 December. Arthur Fils, Alex Michelsen, Jakub Mensik, Shang Juncheng, Learner Tien, Luca Van Assche and Nishesh Basavareddy will also compete at the event, having qualified earlier this week.
[ATP APP]Fonseca started the year at No. 727 in the PIF ATP Rankings but has soared to a career-high No. 145 after an impressive season.
The Brazilian lit up Rio de Janeiro in February when he advanced to the quarter-finals at the ATP 500 event on home soil, beating Arthur Fils and Cristian Garin. The 18-year-old also reached the last eight in Bucharest and won his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title in Lexington.
Buy your tickets to watch Fonseca and the rest of the field in action here.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Alexei Popyrin is engaged to longtime girlfriend Amy Pederick. The Aussie star shared the exciting news on Instagram Thursday.
“Forever with you 🤍💍,” Popyrin wrote in a post that featured four photos of the happy couple.
<img alt=”Alexei Popyrin and girlfriend Amy Pederick announce their engagement.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/11/29/16/05/popyrin-engagement-november-2024-smile.jpg” />
Photo Credit: Alexei Popyrin
The 25-year-old Popyrin competed a month ago at the Rolex Paris Masters, where he reached the third round. In August, the Aussie won his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the Omnium Banque Nationale présenté par Rogers in Montreal, where he claimed five Top 20 wins.
The No. 24 player in the PIF ATP Rankings finished the season with a 28-22 match record.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Novak Djokovic’s decision to appoint long-term friend and rival Andy Murray has caused a stir in the past week. The 37-year-old will team with the Scot in the new season. But how did the decision come about?
The Serbian explained all when he spoke to Sky Sports at the Formula 1 on Friday.
[ATP APP]“I was going through a process of thinking about next season in the past couple of months and figuring out what I needed as I stopped with my coach Goran Ivanisevic, who I was successful with,” Djokovic told Sky Sports. “I took about six months to think if I really needed a coach and if yes, who is that going to be and the profile of the coach.
“We were going through different names and I realised at this point the perfect coach would be someone who has been through the experiences I have been through. A multiple Grand Slam winner and I was thinking about a few and the Andy Murray discussion appeared on the table with my team. I decided I would give him a call and see how it goes. It caught him off guard a little bit as he wasn’t expecting it.
“We connected really fast and he accepted it after a few days. I can’t be more excited about it. This collaboration is a surprise to me as well, to everyone, but it is exciting for tennis. He has been one of my greatest rivals, we are at the same age. We played in all the biggest stages in our sport so I can’t wait to be out there next season.”
Djokovic will aim to win a record-extending 25th major at the Australian Open in January. Born a week apart in May 1987, both Djokovic and Murray climbed to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings and battled on the world’s biggest stages. Djokovic and Murray clashed in 36 Lexus ATP Head2Head showdowns, with the former winning 25 of them.
Murray ended his playing career at the Paris Olympics in July.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Novak Djokovic says his decision to appoint former rival Andy Murray as his coach was “a surprise to everyone” but is “exciting for tennis”.
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic may have only played two Lexus ATP Head2Head clashes in 2024, but both matches were played out with a significant prize at stake.
The pair faced off in two title matches this season: at Wimbledon, where they collided in the championship match for the second consecutive year, and at the Paris Olympics, where Djokovic was chasing the only significant title in tennis — an Olympic gold medal — that he was yet to capture.
As part of ATPTour.com’s annual season-in-review series, we look back at Alcaraz and Djokovic’s two matchups in 2024.
[ATP APP] Wimbledon F, Alcaraz d. Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4)
Despite defeat in his five-set epic with Alcaraz in the 2023 Wimbledon final, Djokovic entered 2024 with a 3-2 Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead against the Spaniard following back-to-back victories in Cincinnati and the Nitto ATP Finals. This year, fans were made to wait until July for another installment of their intriguing rivalry, and it was Alcaraz who struck back in commanding fashion on the lawns of SW19.
Djokovic had dropped just two sets en route to the championship match at the grass-court major, where he was competing just weeks after undergoing knee surgery. Yet the Serbian had little answer to a sparkling championship-match performance from Alcaraz, who converted five of 14 break points he earned en route to his fourth Grand Slam crown.
The only moment of peril for Alcaraz came when he let slip three championship points from 5-4, 40/0 in the third set. Up against a record-24-time major champion with a renowned reputation for winning matches from impossible positions, Alcaraz could have been forgiven had he panicked when Djokovic went on to break serve in that game. Yet he soon nipped any potential comeback from the Serbian in the bud with a rock-solid tie-break.
“It was 40/0 but I was seeing [the trophy] so far away,” reflected Alcaraz. “Djokovic is an unbelievable fighter and I knew he was going to have his chances again, so I had to stay there. I tried to win the point with the serve, but I couldn’t. It was difficult for me. I tried to stay calm. I tried to stay positive at that situation, going into the tie-break, and I tried to play my best tennis. That’s all I was thinking about. I’m really glad that at the end I could find the solution and I’m happy to be in this situation.”
<img alt=”Carlos Alcaraz/Novak Djokovic” style=”width: 100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/14/16/41/djokovic-wimbledon-2024-final-reaction.jpg” />
Alcaraz and Djokovic at the 2024 Wimbledon trophy ceremony. Photo Credit: Getty Images.
Djokovic, whose final defeat left him still without a tour-level title in 2024 at the time, had few complaints about the outcome of the most one-sided Grand Slam match between himself and Alcaraz so far.
“Obviously it is not the result that I wanted and especially in the first couple of sets, the level of tennis wasn’t up to par, really, from my side,” said the Serbian. “But credit to Carlos for playing some complete tennis. From the back of the court, on serve, he had it all today.
“I tried to push him and saved the three match points, extended the match a little bit, but it wasn’t meant to be really. He was an absolutely deserved winner today, so congratulations to him for amazing tennis.”
Paris Olympics F, Djokovic d. Alcaraz 7-6(3), 7-6(2)
There were plenty of reasons to think Djokovic’s chances of finally clinching an Olympic gold medal, at the age of 37, were slim. His Wimbledon final run aside, the Serbian endured an injury-disrupted first seven months of the season and had been outplayed by a younger rival at two of the year’s three majors up to that point (Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open semi-finals, Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final).
However, in true Djokovic fashion, the Serbian found a way to win, and triumph against a great rival in a championship match, when it mattered most.
Chasing the only significant title in tennis that had eluded him, the then-No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings breezed into the Paris 2024 gold medal match without dropping a set. He dispatched his old foe Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas and the in-form Lorenzo Musetti en route, but the final barrier that stood between Djokovic and becoming just the fifth player to complete the ‘Golden Slam’ of winning all four majors and an Olympic gold medal was a familiar one: Alcaraz.
What transpired was one of the most remarkable turnarounds of the year. Just three weeks after being comprehensively outplayed by the Spaniard on the SW19 grass, Djokovic produced his best performance of the season to fend off his rival and claim an emotional victory.
The pair went toe to toe in a bruising 94-minute first set on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Djokovic saved all eight break points he faced, while letting slip five of his own, before raising his level to clinch the set in a tie-break. In a second set of far fewer chances on return, the Serbian again found something extra in the tie-break: he reeled off five points in a row from 2/2 to charge to victory before turning to his box almost in disbelief at his achievement.
<img alt=”Novak Djokovic celebrates the moment he clinches the gold medal at the Paris Olympics.” style=”width: 100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/08/04/15/25/djokovic-olympics-match-point.jpg” />
Novak Djokovic celebrates the moment he clinches the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images
“We almost played three hours for two sets. It was an incredible battle, incredible fight,” said Djokovic. “When the last shot went past him, that was the only moment I actually thought I could win the match. I mean I believed that I could win, but to actually win it, because he keeps on coming back. He keeps on asking me to play my best tennis.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m still in shock, honestly. I put my heart, my soul, my body, my family, my everything on the line to win Olympic gold at age 37. I finally did it.”
Alcaraz, who had lifted his maiden Roland Garros crown on the same court just two months prior and by no means produced a below-par performance in the Olympic final, was quick to salute his rival.
“It is painful to lose the way that I lost this match,” said the 21-year-old, who will look to overturn a 3-4 Lexus ATP Head2Head deficit against Djokovic in 2025. “I had my opportunities… I couldn’t take them. Novak is playing great, he really settled in his position, in the difficult moments he increased his level, he played unbelievable.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
Hubert Hurkacz has bolstered his coaching setup with two new additions for the 2025 season.
The 27-year-old has added eight-time Grand Slam champion Ivan Lendl and Olympic doubles gold medalist Nicolas Massu to his team. Lendl helped Andy Murray to three major titles, while Massu coached Dominic Thiem to the 2020 US Open crown.
[ATP APP]“Having Nicolas Massu and Ivan Lendl as part of my team is an honor,” Hurkacz said in a statement. “Their knowledge and dedication inspire me to work harder than ever, and I’m ready to put in the hard work.
“I’m excited and optimistic for season 2025 and beyond. This has been a year of ups and downs; I’ve learned a lot and grown a lot, and I can finally say I am fully healthy and ready for the challenges ahead.”
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Hurkacz underwent meniscus surgery to treat an injury suffered in the second round at Wimbledon, and since parted ways with longtime coach Craig Boynton, with whom he collected all eight of his tour-level titles.
“I’m very motivated and happy to begin this new chapter working with Hubi,” said Massu. “He is not only a great person but also a true professional. I’m excited to join his team and believe that together we can achieve great things. I’m also looking forward to starting the pre-season in Florida alongside Ivan.”
The Pole reached a career high of No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings in August but finished the year at No. 16 with a 40-19 win-loss record. Hurkacz will begin his 2025 season by representing Poland at the United Cup, the innovative mixed team event in which he finished as a runner-up last year.
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