ATP Tour

Fonseca to miss Adelaide due to back injury

Joao Fonseca has further delayed the start of his 2026 season after withdrawing from the Adelaide International.

The 19-year-old Brazilian last week pulled out of the Brisbane International presented by ANZ due to a lower back injury, and he will now skip the ATP 250 in Adelaide for the same reason.

"Unfortunately I'm not able to play here," said Fonseca in a press conference. "It's difficult to make this decision. I felt those days that we were practising, every day feeling a little bit better, but it's difficult to say that I'm a hundred per cent.

"We are trying our best to recover a hundred per cent to play the Australian Open, which is our main goal. That decision is not made. We want to play, we think that it's going to be possible. So we want to focus on the recovery, and unfortunately I couldn't play here, and I hope to come back stronger next year."

The No. 29 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Fonseca will now head to Melbourne to prepare for the Australian Open, where he made a big impact on event debut in 2025. After coming through qualifying, he upset then-World No. 9 Andrey Rublev in straight sets in his first main-draw match at a major.

Fonseca lifted his first ATP Tour trophy in Buenos Aires last February before claiming the biggest title of his career at the ATP 500 in Basel in October. The 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF champion, he hit his career high of World No. 24 in early November.

"I was born with something in my back and sometimes it's more tight," said Fonseca. "I already had a stress fracture five years ago, but it's something that it's going to be in my body, so I need to deal with it. I'm just trying my best to recover. We did a MRI, and it's nothing very serious, but can be serious, so we want to be a hundred per cent to play."