Djokovic praises Fonseca: "I'm a big fan of his game".
Novak Djokovic got the job done. Facing qualifier Jaime Faria in his second round match at the Australian Open, the Serb, in search of his 25th Grand Slam title, won in four sets (6-1, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2).
Present at the press conference, the former world number 1 was asked about João Fonseca.
The 18-year-old Brazilian, a qualifier for his first Grand Slam, made his mark with a three-set win over top-10 player Andrey Rublev in the first round in Melbourne.
"I congratulated him, not only for his victory yesterday, but also for everything he has achieved over the last twelve months.
I've been following his progress closely, and I love the way he approaches the important points. He's courageous, he hits the ball cleanly.
He's a complete player. Brazil is a great country. It's very important for our sport to have a very good Brazilian player.
I don't think they've had a player of this caliber since Gustavo Kuerten.
It's exciting for the country, but also for the tennis world, because to have such a young player capable of playing so well in the big tournaments is impressive.
I was watching him last year too. I'm a big fan of his game. I think I said in one of my interviews for the ATP that I found a bit of my game in his.
At this age, you don't think, you just unleash your shots and try to show what you can do.
He's got what it takes, and he showed yesterday that he can go far. He's got a great future ahead of him, no doubt about it. It's up to him to keep going in the right direction," Djokovic praised.