Juventus Vice-Captain Bremer Lauds Sinner’s Mental Fortitude at Nitto ATP Finals
A Brazilian football star has highlighted the unique mental challenges faced by elite tennis players, praising Jannik Sinner and other top competitors for their individual resilience.
Juventus FC vice-captain Gleison Bremer, a five-time Brazilian national team player, attended Wednesday’s Nitto ATP Finals clash between Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev in Turin. The 28-year-old, a dedicated tennis fan who counts Lorenzo Musetti, Sinner, and Novak Djokovic among his favorite players, shared his observations on the differences between team and individual sports.
“Their mentality impresses me the most,” Bremer told ATPTour.com (in Italian). “In tennis you’re alone, you have no alibis, you must take all the responsibility. In football you can afford to play not at your best if your teammates help you.”
Bremer’s attendance at the Inalpi Arena marked his second ATP Tour event of 2025, following a visit to the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in April where he met Musetti. He was present to witness Sinner’s straight-sets victory over Zverev, subsequently congratulating the No. 2 ranked player and defending champion.
The conversation also turned to the rising star of Brazilian tennis, 19-year-old Joao Fonseca. After winning the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, Fonseca has continued his impressive form, recently achieving a career-high No. 24 in the PIF ATP Rankings after winning his first ATP 500 title at the Swiss Indoors Basel. Bremer believes Fonseca possesses the potential to join the pantheon of Brazilian sporting legends.
“He’s young, but he’s rising,” Bremer said of Fonseca. “I think in the future he has the potential to reach the same level of those world-class champions. We missed great sportsmen in the past years. In the past we’ve had Pele, Ayrton Senna, Guga [Kuerten].”
Bremer’s insights underscore the demanding psychological landscape of professional tennis, where individual accountability is paramount, and the emergence of a new generation of talent, like Fonseca, offers renewed hope for Brazilian sporting dominance.
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