Joao Fonseca continues to be predicted to achieve big things after his latest title win at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
Fonseca beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to win the Basel title, which is the biggest of his career so far.
On his route to winning the ATP 500 title, Fonseca actually matched a Roger Federer record.
However, when speaking about the player who beat him in the final, Davidovich Fokina actually compared Fonseca to 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.
Joao Fonseca explains why he is ‘not a fan’ of comparisons to Novak Djokovic
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have dominated the ATP Tour for the past two seasons, collectively sharing the last eight Grand Slam titles.
This is something that was referenced in Davidovich Fokina’s post-match speech, as he backed Fonseca to disrupt the dominant pair and play a similar role to what Djokovic did with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
“You played unbelievable tennis today,” said Davidovich Fokina. “You are the person of this sport. You have a bright future for sure. You’re gonna be the next Nole to beat Carlos and Jannik for sure.”
These comments were brought to Fonseca in his post-match press conference, but he was quick to dismiss any comparisons with Djokovic or any other player.
“I am not a fan of these comparisons,” responded Fonseca. “Everyone has their own history…I think it’s a pleasure hearing those kind words for him.
“Great guy, great friend, great fighter…I’m trying my best but we all know that Jannik and Carlos are playing next level tennis. So all the other players from the tour, we are working harder & harder to keep going with them.”
Djokovic has previously given high praise to Fonseca, who is now at a career-high ranking of world number 28.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina sends a message to Joao Fonseca after the Swiss Indoors final
While a lot of the conversation has been around Fonseca winning his second title, it is another final defeat for Davidovich Fokina.
Davidovich Fokina has now lost five ATP finals in his career, four of which have been this year, and two where he has had match points.
Despite losing in a championship match once again, Davidovich Fokina has been gracious in defeat and sent Fonseca a message on social media.
He wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “Another good week on court. Congrats to Joao and his team for the title and thank you Basel for the energy.”
Both players do not have long to dwell on their respective weeks in Basel, as they will now compete at the final Masters 1000 tournament of the year in Paris.
After Ugo Humbert withdrew due to injury, Davidovich Fokina will now play lucky loser Valentin Royer, while Fonseca has a first round match against Denis Shapovalov, who he also played in Basel.
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