Tennis fans know how the ATP currently works. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are likely to face each other in the final of whatever tournaments they are both involved in, and the rest of the field is there to fail before the final. Domination can be good for sports, but too much can be bad.
The great part about men's tennis for much of the last two decades is that at least three players were consistently competing to break Grand Slam records for titles. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer weren't just great during their time playing each other; they were historically elite.
Alcaraz and Sinner might be as well, but having only two players consistently winning majors feels like cheating. Another young player challenging them would be great for tennis. Former No. 1 Andy Roddick believes Joao Fonseca can be that third player.
Joao Fonseca might soon be challenging Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner for Grand Slam titles
On his Served podcast, after Fonseca had an impressive victory against Flavio Cobolli at the Laver Cup, Roddick said, "(Fonseca) can create off of a kind of dead ball, slow ball, kind of create that speed as a mechanism, as maybe anyone in the world not named Carlos or Sinner, right? He was fantastic."
The American didn't clearly state that the Brazilian is definitely the third-best player on the tour right now, but implied Fonseca could be on his way. Plus, he is only 19 years old, and his rise to near the top would create a scenario in which the three best players would all be under 25.
All-time great Roger Federer isn't quite ready to crown anyone as the third-best on tour, though. He has watched with awe at just how clearly Sinner and Alcaraz dominate tennis so quickly after the retirements of Nadal and Federer and the slightly lower quality of play from Djokovic.
Federer said, "But I don't think we expected this kind of dominance right out of the gate. It's amazing for the game. I think they play back to back to back to back finals against each other. They have made a name for themselves, and obviously, now it begs the next question: who is going to be the next guy?"
Joao Fonseca currently ranks No. 42 on the ATP tour, but this is his first full year on tour. He has won a title already, at the clay-court Buenos Aires Open. One can assume that it will be the first title of many, but whether he can match Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz is yet to be known.