One of Portugal’s star players, Gonçalo Da Rosa Castro had a booming start to the year and did not look back. His tenure atop the 16&U Race to Monte-Carlo ranking was nothing short of amazing in the lead-up to the year-end event:
- only spent 3 weeks out of the top 8 since the start of the 2024 Race
- inside of the top 2 for 27 consecutive weeks
- #1 for 19 weeks in total in 2 streaks: weeks 12-17 (6 weeks) and weeks 24-36 (13 weeks)
Of course, these numbers came thanks to plenty of hard work and some fantastic 16&U results since the start of last year’s Race which, in addition to having led Portugal to the semifinals of the Summer Cups, also included the following:
- Milan Cat.2: singles and doubles champion
- Barcelona Cat.2: singles champion and doubles SF
- Sanxenxo Cat.2: singles R/U and doubles champion
- Torelló Cat.1: singles SF and doubles R/U
Tell us where you’re from in Portugal and how you started playing tennis.
I’m from Guimarães, in the north, which is near Porto, and I think I started playing when I was four.
What got you interested in tennis initially?
Well, my father used to play tennis when he was younger, and he said that I should try to play … and I liked it!
So, when did you discover that you had some talent?
(laughs) I don’t know. I just did my best and worked hard and ….
… and it came naturally?
Yes.
When did you first hear about Tennis Europe and the Junior Tour?
Maia is not far from my city, so I had heard about that Super Category tournament there. I started playing TEJT events when I was 12. I saw there were events in Portugal, so I’ve played since then. I’ve played a lot of tournaments now!
What’s been your favourite tournament experience on our tour?
I like Kungens Kanna (Stockholm Super Category) and Les Petits As.
You’ve been doing extremely well in the Race to Monte Carlo. This had clearly been a goal for you.
Yes, I had been trying to make it, but I always thought that if I go it would be good, but if I can’t it’s no problem. We have more objectives.
What has been your plan for 2024?
To play some important tournaments in Spain and Italy. Doing well gives you a lot of points and they turned out to be good tournaments for me.
What players do you look up to?
My idol is Roger Federer. Now Carlos Alcaraz is my favourite player.
What is it about them that speaks to you?
Carlos is just a really good player and works so much. He is a good person and seems to be a really nice guy.
Maybe in 3 or 4 years you’ll end up playing each other.
Yes, you never know (laughs).
And what about on the women’s side.
Iga Swiatek.
Being young and travelling so much, how do you combine that with your schooling?
I started doing online school this year. I am trying to do both and for now it’s good. I don’t like maths because I’m not good at it, but I like the other subjects. English is fun and it helps me get better all the time.
What would be your dream tournament/s to play?
All the Grand Slams of course. Indian Wells too… but for sure Wimbledon! I played a grass tournament in Portugal when I was 10 and that was it so…
What are your big dreams?
I want to make it to the ATP top 50. If I can do that, it will be great. I want to be a professional and work every day to get that.
Now what are some of the fun parts of playing tournaments at your age (15)?
Travelling. You meet so many people and make a lot of friends from other places, so that’s really cool. Getting to visit other countries is nice too. There are so many places that I know well now.
Any favourites?
Barcelona … and Greece is beautiful.
And what is your dream destination: a place you have never been to that you would love to visit?
Australia… and the Australian Open of course!
And the down sides to being young and travelling so much for tournaments?
I don’t know the negative things… maybe being without my parents. I don’t have brothers or sisters…
Looking at some of the big names in tennis now, a lot of them played the TEJT when they were young. Does the Junior Tour help you in your development?
Of course. I definitely think so, because with Tennis Europe it’s definitely an important step on your way up.
Can you describe a typical day in your life at a tournament?
I wake up and eat something of course! (thinking) If my practice is at 9am then I arrive at 8:25 to do all my routines and warm-up. Then I’ll maybe eat something more after practice, bananas, proteins, you know… Then I play my match, followed by stretching and a run. After lunch I normally have doubles. So, this is my tournament day.
What about non-match days?
If there is a gym, I’ll do some mobility exercises there and also some sprints to activate and then I’ll go warm-up and practice my tennis. I usually have classes in the morning and sometimes in the evening, so if I can go, I’ll try.
So, you can do class whenever you want.
Yes, the teacher gives the class online and then they put the classes on the website, and we can watch it whenever we want.
Do you have exams?
Yes, but only next year! This year we only have homework and texts to read.
Does learning this way help your tennis?
Yes, and I recommend it to other players too. In the future it will help them improve.
You played very well in the Summer Cups and Portugal was a finalist. How would you describe the event in general? And are you happy with the result for your country?
The event was extremely well organized, the environment, the conditions, the public that was watching the games, as well as all the care they took to ensure that we didn't miss out on anything. They made us feel like true tennis professionals. As for the result, obviously we wanted to win, but Germany was better and we were happy to be runners-up.
Daniel Jade won the 14&U Junior Masters (Monte-Carlo) in 2023, and you faced him in the Summer Cups semi-finals. Do you remember much about your match against him?
It was a very tough game in which I felt I had the match under control and was winning 6-1 5-2 and I even had a match point, suddenly thanks to Daniel, the game turned around and I ended up losing the second set. In the third and decisive set it was very close, reaching 5-4 for Daniel in a match that lasted several hours. I tried to find strength somehow and ended up winning 7-5!
You never forget intense matches like these, and they only make us evolve and improve in this event/format.
Speaking of Monte-Carlo, you were number 1 in the Race for months. Were you excited to go?
OF COURSE! I was so proud to have been in first place in the Masters race for so many weeks!