Joao Fonseca says what he really thinks about Andre Agassi and Pat Rafter after the Laver Cup

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Joao Fonseca made his Laver Cup debut in 2025 as a member of Team World.

New captain, Andre Agassi, picked the Brazilian as a member of his six-man squad in San Francisco.

Under the guidance of Agassi and vice captain Pat Rafter, Fonseca won the only match he played at the event, taking down Team Europe’s Flavio Cobolli to earn his side their first points of the tournament.

Team World went on to win the Laver Cup, 15-9, as Fonseca lifted the biggest trophy of his professional career.

As his 2025 campaign comes to an end, Fonseca has looked back upon his time in San Francisco and shared how he really feels about Agassi and Rafter.

Joao Fonseca says he had a ‘really good relationship’ with Andre Agassi and Pat Rafter

During an interview with ESPN Brazil, Fonseca gave his honest verdict on the American and Aussie.

“Yeah, [Andre] Agassi was super cool,” he said.

“I think [Pat] Rafter, too, I actually got a bit closer to Rafter than to Agassi because we spent more time together on the bench, in the seating area, we talked more.

“Between the matches, Agassi was busy talking to the players who were playing, Rafter and I were always chatting, talking about the matches.

“I had a really good relationship with both of them.

“In the end, Rafter even invited me to go to Australia someday.

“So just having a relationship with those guys and listening to their experiences was really cool.”

The Brazilian then revealed why he hesitated before accepting the invitation to join Team World at the Laver Cup.

“We had that feeling of, Wow, an exhibition, is this really for me?” said Fonseca.

“I’m around 5 in the world; everyone else is top 20, top 10, but honestly, it was a great experience for me.

Players at the 2025 Laver Cup

“I learned a lot, and being around those guys was amazing.”

Fonseca certainly made the most of the experience, winning the title on debut.

The good times didn’t stop there either, as Fonseca won the Swiss Indoors shortly after and made his top 30 debut.

Heading into 2026, the young Brazilian will no doubt be after even more success…

Could Joao Fonseca win a Grand Slam next year?

Fonseca made his debut at all four Grand Slams this year, finishing with a 6-4 record.

• 2025 Australian Open 1R [WIN] vs Andrey Rublev
• 2025 Australian Open 2R [LOSS] vs Lorenzo Sonego
• 2025 French Open 1R [WIN] vs Hubert Hurkacz
• 2025 French Open 2R [WIN] vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert
• 2025 French Open 3R [LOSS] vs Jack Draper
• 2025 Wimbledon 1R [WIN] vs Jacob Fearnley
• 2025 Wimbledon 2R [WIN] vs Jenson Brooksby
• 2025 Wimbledon 3R [LOSS] vs Nicolas Jarry
• 2025 US Open 1R [WIN] vs Miomir Kecmanovic
• 2025 US Open 2R [LOSS] vs Tomas Machac

It would definitely be a surprise to see him push on and win a major in 2026, but you never know.

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, whom Fonseca has been compared to at length, finished his first Grand Slam season with a similar 8-4 record in 2021 and won his first major at the US Open a year later.

Unfortunately for Fonseca, if he is to follow in Alcaraz’s footsteps, he’ll likely have to beat him or his greatest rival, Jannik Sinner, en route to any potential Grand Slam title.

The pair have shared the last eight available Grand Slams, and contested three major finals in 2025.

Whether Fonseca can join the pair and form a new ‘big three’ remains to be seen, but if he can continue to improve as he did in 2025, Alcaraz and Sinner may have a new challenger before too long…

Fonseca will compete in his fifth Grand Slam main draw at the 2026 Australian Open, which is scheduled to begin on Sunday, January 18.