Fonseca recalls: "Sinner said to me, 'You're too good for this'".

At just 18, Joao Fonseca is one of the most promising players of his generation.

Ranked 730th in the world in January, the Brazilian prodigy is now 154th in the world, a rise of 576 places in less than a year.

This week at the Brest Challenger, he recently spoke to ATP about his first meeting with Jannik Sinner.

At the time, the current world No. 1 clearly sensed his potential: "The first time I dealt with Jannik Sinner was last year at the ATP Finals.

I was training with the players that week and we sparred for the first few days.

I remember talking to him about my idea of going to university and he replied: 'You're too good for that, try going pro'.

It was very nice, even though I thought he was making fun of me or joking (laughs).

It was the first time I'd trained with him, and his whole team was very kind to me."