João Fonseca Admits to Nervous Sweating As He Meets Roger Federer Ahead of Laver Cup Debut

Ahead of his Laver Cup debut, João Fonseca admitted to being nervous before meeting Roger Federer, the co-creator of the tournament.

João Fonseca recently met with Roger Federer ahead of making his Laver Cup debut. The Brazilian expressed that he felt nervous before meeting Federer, who is also the co-creator of the tournament.

In 2023, Fonseca signed a sponsorship deal with the Swiss athletic apparel brand On, which is backed by Federer. Last year, he was approached by Team8, a management agency co-founded by the 20-time Grand Slam champion, but he declined their offer and is continuing to be managed by his mother, Roberta Fonseca.

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João Fonseca Meets With Roger Federer Before Beginning His Run at Laver Cup 2025

The 2025 Laver Cup will be held on the indoor hard court at the Chase Center in San Francisco, United States, from Sept. 19 to Sept. 21, 2025. Fonseca is a member of Team World.

The 19-year-old, along with Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, Francisco Cerúndolo, Alex Michelsen, and Reilly Opelka, is part of Team World. Andre Agassi will serve as the team captain, with Pat Rafter as the vice-captain. They are aiming to secure their third Laver Cup title, while Team Europe will be looking to defend its title.

Before kicking off his campaign, Fonseca met with Federer and admitted that he was so nervous that he was sweating beforehand.

“My hands are sweating because I’m going to meet Roger,” Fonseca said.

“Finally! Nice to meet you, it’s a pleasure. Congratulations on everything so far, yeah. Well done on a great career so far,” Federer replied.

“They told me like 10 minutes ago, ‘You’re going to meet Roger’,” Fonseca said.

 

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Fonseca also took to social media and shared a series of pictures of his meeting with Federer.

“🤯🤯🤯🤯 It was a pleasure to finally meet you, @rogerfederer. 🙏🏻,” Fonseca captioned his Instagram post.

 

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Before the 2025 Laver Cup, Fonseca competed at the US Open, where he defeated Miomir Kecmanović in the first round before being eliminated by Tomáš Macháč in the second round.

“Roger Federer Is My Idol” — Fonseca Ahead of Laver Cup 2025

Fonseca recently expressed that Federer is his “idol.” While speaking about competing at the 2025 Laver Cup, he described it as an “amazing opportunity” to be around “great players” and “great captains.”

“Roger’s my idol. Laver Cup is an amazing opportunity to be around great players, great captains. I’m going to love it for sure. Playing tennis is an individual game and when do you have this opportunity to play as a team? Laver Cup will be super nice to cheer for each other. Hopefully, Laver Cup will teach me a lot,” Fonseca said.

The Brazilian shared that he loves playing alongside the “best” and said that he would love to compete against players like Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev, among others, at the tournament.

“I love playing with the best. Carlos [Alcaraz] or Sascha [Alexander Zverev] would be super. If Andre picked me for anyone, I’ll be ready. I’m going to bring a great vibe and hopefully, great tennis that will help them to take this trophy,” he added.

Looking ahead, after the 2025 Laver Cup, Fonseca is expected to participate in the 2025 Shanghai Masters, which will take place at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in Shanghai, China, from Oct. 1 to Oct. 12, 2025.

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