Joao Fonseca is keeping grounded and concentrated ahead of his Indian Wells debut on Thursday.
It’s been a whirlwind last year for the Brazilian who has achieved success on the Challenger Tour to Grand Slams and on the regular ATP Circuit.
This time last year Fonseca was just inside the world’s top 350 but the 18 year-old is now at 80 in the world after winning his maiden ATP title in Buenos Aires last month.
Speaking about his progress Fonseca admitted he is just concentrating on improving his game and explained what he likes most about Indian Wells, “I’m just trying to improve my game,” Fonseca told the ATP website.
“Trying to improve in the rankings [so I can] play those tournaments: The 500s, the 1000s. I’m just working very hard — me and my team — to be here with the top players. It feels amazing. I didn’t expect the beauty… There are so many mountains, it’s literally like a desert. It’s really, really cool. The place for the players is also super cool. There’s grass [areas] that are for the players, cool restaurants, so it’s really nice.
“I just want to thank the tournament directors for this opportunity. Playing these kinds of tournaments is the goal of every player. I want to be at the top tournaments, and people say that this is the fifth Grand Slam. It’s super cool, it’s amazing how they treat the players. Hopefully I can enjoy it [a lot].”
Fonseca will aim to improve his ranking even further as he makes his Indian Wells debut on Thursday.
The Brazilian starts his campaign against Jacob Fearnley before potentially facing British number one Jack Draper in the second round.
