Fonseca withdraws again from Adelaide, still hopeful to compete in the Australian Open

After withdrawing from the Brisbane tournament last week, Brazilian prospect Fonseca has declared his withdrawal from this week's Adelaide event, postponing his first match of the new season once more. He achieved his career-best ranking of 24th globally in November and won championships in Buenos Aires and Basel.

Fonseca profile image

Currently, Fonseca's back injury is affecting his performance at the start of the season, forcing him to skip two Australian Open warm-up tournaments. At a press conference, he elaborated on the injury that has hampered his early-year form.

"It's unfortunate that I can't play here," Fonseca said. "This was a very tough decision. I felt a bit better each day during training, but it's hard to say I was fully recovered. I've had some back issues since birth, and sometimes it gets tighter. Five years ago, I had a stress fracture, but it's something that stays with me, so I have to manage it. I'm doing everything I can to recover. We did an MRI scan which showed no major problems, but it could still be serious, so we want to be 100% before returning to competition."

Fonseca remains optimistic about being ready for this year's first Grand Slam: "We are doing our best to fully recover. Playing the Australian Open is our main goal, and no final decision has been made yet. We hope to participate and believe it's possible. So, we want to focus on recovery. It's unfortunate I can't compete here, but I hope to come back stronger next year." This year's Australian Open will start on January 18.

(Text and editing by Wang Fei; Photo by Visual China)