ROLAND GARROS — In the searing heat of a Paris heatwave, maybe it is no surprise that tennis is turning out to be a young man’s game.
With Carlos Alcaraz injured, Jannik Sinner boiled and Novak Djokovic beaten, Roland Garros has three new names in competition for the title, and not one of them has yet reached their 21st birthday: Joao Fonseca, Rafa Jodar and Jakub Mensik.
Joao Fonseca, 19, Brazil
I first met Fonseca at a windy, cold tennis centre in Nottingham. Then still 17 and with growing left to do, he did not look like much as we stood and chatted on the rickety cast-iron balcony – but he had just beaten Damir Dzumhur, then ranked just outside the top 100, to suggest he had plenty to offer.
I was behind the curve in some ways, because Roger Federer had snapped him up on a shoe and clothing deal in 2023 after he won the US Open boys, recognising the huge and rare opportunity to find a way into the enormous Brazilian market. Federer also tried to sign Fonseca to his talent agency, but he preferred to stick with his Dad, a hedge fund manager by trade.
