Federer namechecks rising Brazilian star João Fonseca as one to watch at Australian Open

It underlines how dominant Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are in men’s tennis that the great Roger Federer felt compelled to namecheck Brazil’s João Fonseca to break the duopoly.

Speaking days before the start of the Australian Open in Melbourne, the season’s first Grand Slam, Federer challenged players from several generations to step up.

“Sincaraz”, as Sinner and Alcaraz have been dubbed, have claimed the last eight Grand Slams between them. You have to go back to the US Open in 2023 for a different winner, when Novak Djokovic claimed his 24th career singles Grand Slam title.

One of the gobsmacking statistical anomalies is that No 3 Alexander Zverev is more than 6,000 ranking points below Sinner at No 2.

In terms of points, Zverev is closer to India’s Atharva Sharma, last on the official ATP rankings at position 2223, than he is to Sinner.

Brazil’s 19-year-old rising star Fonseca, who is ranked 30 in the world, is seen as the player likely to turn this era into another “big three” similar to that of Federer, Djokovic and Rafa Nadal.

But Fonseca is young and inexperienced at Grand Slam level in particular. He has won two ATP titles already, but it seems a long shot that he is ready for a tilt at a Grand Slam.

The established chasing pack such as Zverev, Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz and others also must believe they can stop the Big Two.

“You don’t want to be the third guy,” Federer said of Fonseca, before the start of the 2026 Aussie Open, where Federer will play an exhibition doubles match to start the tournament.

“You want to be the guy. For anybody… I would think hopefully that’s what he’s thinking. I think anybody from the draw could come here and say, ‘I want to win the Australian Open.’ It should be totally the same for João. I hope he has that mindset.

“I think what separates him from a lot of the other guys in the draw are his power, forehand, backhand, serve, and what he’s able to bring point for point.

“He’s exciting, he has a good aura. I feel like he’s a very likeable character as well. I like watching him play.

“I just think he’s more a little bit like me in the sense he needs a little bit more time to work on his game. Similar to Jannik, as well, to know when to dial back and when to unload his shots.

“Once he figures that out, obviously the sky’s the limit. But I think he’s truly one of the guys that can compete for the biggest wins.”

Great Sincaraz vs Djokovic rivalry

But Sincaraz look unstoppable at this point, as the world rankings clearly show. Djokovic, who has won 10 titles in Melbourne, will believe he can beat Sincaraz – and he might still be good enough to topple one of them – but can he beat both in consecutive matches? That’s what the draw would require of him.

Sinner and Alcaraz met in six finals in 2025, including at the French Open, where Alcaraz saved three match points to complete one of the sport’s great comebacks in the longest Paris final at five hours and 29 minutes.

“That’s why we’re here,” Federer said. “It’s a great rivalry. They play incredible tennis and the French Open final was unreal. The game, not that it needed it, but it was great that we had it.

“For a moment, the sporting world stood still and watched what was going on in Paris in that epic fifth set. It could have ended sooner for Jannik, and then all of a sudden it ended up in this crazy fashion. It was maybe one of the greatest matches.

“It’s good we still live off that momentum and they backed it up by playing each other in all those other finals. Everybody else has tried to keep up while they’re trying to pull away.”

The 22-year-old Alcaraz is chasing his first Australian Open title to become the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam, while 24‑year‑old Sinner is targeting his third straight Australian Open crown to assert a dominance reminiscent of Djokovic’s era.

“Their progression in the last few years is wonderful,” said Federer, who lifted the last of his six Australian Open trophies in 2018.

“I’ve practised with both of them a little bit and they’re incredible ball strikers. There’s more to come, I hope they stay injury-free.”

Federer said he hoped Alcaraz, who takes on 79th-ranked Australian Adam Walton in the first round, would achieve the career Grand Slam.

“He knows about it ... those things are tough. But his momentum will shift towards the first round and then it’s a point-to-point mentality,” Federer added.

“But at his young age, to be able to complete the career Grand Slam would be crazy, so let’s see if he’s able to do crazy this week. I hope he does, because that would be an unbelievably special moment for the game.

“But he has another 100-whatever players that say ‘we don’t agree with those plans’, so they’ll try everything to stop him.”

Wide open

Women’s favourite Aryna Sabalenka headlines a powerful cast along with Iga Świątek and Coco Gauff.

While the women’s game has been more open than the men’s in recent years, the trio sparked a shift in momentum by sweeping nine of the last 12 Grand Slams, and Sabalenka will head to Melbourne bidding for her third Australian Open crown.

In addition to claiming a fifth Grand Slam title overall, the Belarusian will be looking to make amends for last year’s stunning loss to American Madison Keys in the final.

Sabalenka has already built momentum after reaching her third successive final in Brisbane, where she beat Marta Kostyuk for the title.

“It’s tennis, it’s sport and that’s why it’s so beautiful because you can’t predict anything,” Sabalenka said when asked about expectations for the season after her Brisbane triumph.

“It’s like every day you go out there and prove your level.

“The only one thing I’m sure of is that I’ll be there, I’ll be fighting ... my focus is on my game, on developing myself and making sure that I’m strong and healthy.”

After claiming her first Wimbledon crown last year, Swiatek will now set her sights on the missing piece of her puzzle – an Australian Open title that would complete a career Grand Slam.

A strong performance at the tournament could also open up a pathway back towards the world No 1 ranking, but Świątek, who reached the semi-finals 12 months ago, is not focusing on that or the Grand Slam milestone.

“Both of those things are big goals and hard to achieve,” Świątek told reporters at the United Cup, which she ended with defeats by Gauff and Belinda Bencic.

“There’s a long way to get there. At a Grand Slam you have to really play great for two weeks, not have any bad days and be consistent.

“Achieving number one is also tough, especially when Aryna has been playing great for the last few years. I’ll just focus on myself because that’s the only way to go.

“I don’t need to choose which one is more important, which one is a priority. I’m still young ... I don’t need to put that pressure on myself to do something in the next two weeks.” DM

Additional reporting by Reuters.