{"id":479057,"date":"2026-02-16T19:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T19:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/479057\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T19:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T19:27:10","slug":"joao-fonseca-physically-100-per-cent-ahead-of-rio-atp-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/479057\/","title":{"rendered":"Joao Fonseca physically \u2018100 per cent\u2019 ahead of Rio | ATP Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

ATP Tour
\n Fonseca physically \u2018100 per cent\u2019 ahead of hometown title tilt in Rio<\/p>\n

Brazilian says he has fully recovered from early-season lower back injury<\/p>\n

February 16, 2026<\/p>\n

\"Joao<\/p>\n

Rio Open presented by Claro<\/p>\n

Joao Fonseca practises on Saturday at the Rio Open presented by Claro.
\n By ATP Staff<\/p>\n

Following a stop-start opening to 2026, can Joao Fonseca<\/a> turbocharge his season in his hometown at the Rio Open presented by Claro<\/a>? <\/p>\n

The No. 38 player in the PIF ATP Rankings will this week line up as the third seed at the clay ATP 500. It will be just the third tournament of the season for the 19-year-old, who did not compete until the Australian Open<\/a> due to injury but now believes he is primed and ready to make more headlines as one of the leading lights of Brazilian tennis. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m feeling good. Already 100 per cent physically,\u201d Fonseca told ATP Media in Rio ahead of his first-round match against his countryman Thiago Monteiro<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ve been struggling in the beginning of the year with my lower back, but now I\u2019m 100 per cent and feeling great back on court. Physically I\u2019m good.\u201d <\/p>\n

After opening his 2026 season with a first-round loss to Eliot Spizzirri<\/a> at the Australian Open<\/a>, Fonseca immediately headed to South America to prepare for the \u2018Golden Swing\u2019. Although he also fell to an opening defeat when defending his title at last week\u2019s IEB+ Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, where he was edged in three sets by former Top 20 star Alejandro Tabilo<\/a>, Fonseca feels it was another important step on his tennis journey. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a pretty tight match in Buenos Aires, against a very good player,\u201d said the 19-year-old. \u201cI think the opportunity to play a week where you are the defending champion was great. I\u2019m thinking about positive things right 1771270029. It was my first time, and of course a little bit more pressure, but I think I handled it pretty well. I think my opponent played pretty good. Things to work on of course, but I\u2019m feeling confident for this week.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Fonseca enters Rio this year with a 13-11 tour-level record on clay, according to the Infosys ATP Win\/Loss Index, having competed in tournaments across both Europe and South America. He was quick to identify a couple of aspects of the \u2018Golden Swing\u2019 events that set them apart from their European equivalents. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think the most different thing is the weather [in Europe],\u201d explained Fonseca. \u201cIt\u2019s hotter and more humid [here], and I think the fans are such a big thing. They pull out a lot of the culture of Argentina and Brazil, perhaps because of football, it\u2019s huge. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey cheer a lot. Sometimes it\u2019s too much! But I think it\u2019s a great environment and that\u2019s the biggest thing [about South America]. The courts are pretty similar. Buenos Aires is more similar to [the European] ones, and here the ball goes a little bit slower, but it\u2019s also good.\u201d <\/p>\n

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