Above and above left: Tennis ace David Fonseca is on his way up in the sport after winning the Waverley Tennis junior championship recently.By Glen Atwell
AT 7-6 up in a final set tiebreak and serving for the championship, David Fonseca keeps his winning formula simple.
Never surrender an easy point.
The simple principle circles silently through his mind as he delivers a match-winning ace past his opponent’s backhand.
Fonseca has won another junior tournament, but his desire to reach the pinnacle of his sport continues to grow.
The Eumemmerring tennis ace, who recently turned 18, aims to become an Australian top 10 player, and is willing to do anything to live his dream.
Fonseca has been a member of the Robinson Reserve Tennis Centre, previously Doveton Tennis Club, for the past eight years, and these days dedicates most of his free time perfecting his near faultless technique.
Now he has finished school, Fonseca takes to the court every day of the week.
“I decided to pursue tennis seriously for at least a year after school, so I’ve been hitting up and entering every tournament I can,” he said.
His most recent success was on Monday, when Fonseca captured the Waverley Tennis junior championship.
Competing in the A Grade event, Fonseca won his way through four rounds before taking the grand final in a third set tiebreak.
The win has catapulted Fonseca up the junior rankings, allowing him to compete in a number of prestigious events.
“I’m playing at Bairnsdale, Frankston and Sale in the coming months, they are big tournaments,” he said.
“The tournament in Gosford (New South Wales) is something I’m aiming for later in the year.”
In his final year as a junior, Fonseca knows how important it is to continue his winning ways.
“I’m playing Victorian pennant competition, which is senior grade, but winning the junior tournaments earns you points,” he said.
“The more points I win the bigger the tournaments I can enter.”
Satellite and futures tournaments lay ahead for Fonseca, who can’t wait to have the opportunity to turn his tennis talent into financial reward.
“The Australian Money Tournaments are the big ones, at the moment I have to earn wild cards in lead-up tournaments to play,” he said.
In such a competitive sport, Fonseca’s quest to one day reach the Australian top 10 may seem ambitious, but he swears by a simple philosophy.
“Aim for the stars and the least you’ll do is go through the roof,” he laughed.
