Tennis player João Fonseca, 19, was defeated earlier this Tuesday (19) in his debut at the Australian Open, the first Gland Slam of the year. The competitor was beaten by the American Eliot Spizzirri in 3 sets to 1.
The match that led to the Brazilian athlete’s defeat took place at the 1573 Arena, in Melbourne. The American competitor took the lead, winning the first set by 6-4. In the second, Fonseca managed to get the better of it, with 6-2. But in the last two sets, the game was decided by Spizzirri, who scored 6/1 and 6/2.
The match was the official start of Fonseca’s 2026 season, which was already under the shadow of suspicion due to an uncomfortable chronic problem in the lower back.
The Brazilian had the challenge of overcoming his period of inactivity precisely at the Australian Open, the tournament that catapulted him onto the international scene last year. He debuted by defeating Russian Andrei Rublev, world number 9 at the time.
The injury that even put Fonseca’s participation in the Grand Slam at risk led the player to withdraw from the ATP 250 in Brisbane and Adelaide, also on Australian soil, in addition to causing him to be absent from the squad list for Brazil’s duel against Canada, for the Davis Cup.
The problem called “rectified spine” by experts is not new for the athlete, detected when he was a teenager. In a recent interview, the tennis player made statements that worried fans, stating that he was born with “something on his back” and that “sometimes the region becomes more rigid.”
“Every high-performance player has injuries and pushes his body to the limit all year round. In João’s case, what worries me is the fact that he debuts in a best of five sets, his body is always very sore. The good thing is that his playing pattern requires less rhythm than other tennis players, those who are consistent, because he has power, he has serve and he can define points more quickly”, said Ricardo Accioly, aka Pardal, former coach of Fernando Meligeni and Marcelo Rivers.
Pardal also pointed out the fact that high-performance players have greater resilience to withstand pain, recalling the last title won by Pete Sampras at Wimbledon, in 2000.
“Sampras’s physiotherapist, a personal friend of mine, says that he blew out his calf in the second round. Even so, he continued. He played the games and was off the entire time. He became champion without even doing light training”, recalled Accioly.
