Joao Fonseca has suffered a disappointing first round exit at the Australian Open after losing to Eliot Spizzirri.
Spizzirri beat ATP rising star Fonseca 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 at Melbourne Park to secure a second round meeting with Wu Yibing.
Roger Federer praised Fonseca in the lead-up to the Australian Open, with the 19-year-old already boasting two ATP titles.
He also really impressed on his Grand Slam debut, knocking Andrey Rublev out of the 2025 Australian Open in round one.
What has been the biggest upset at the Australian Open so far?
Joao Fonseca doesn’t regret playing Australian Open despite early exit
Fonseca has now discussed his disappointing loss at this year’s event, saying: “I felt I played good. I didn’t play very bad, but I didn’t play good as well.
“I felt I wasn’t 100% yet. I’m not saying about pain or injuries. I’m saying about preparation of physique. I will say I needed more time.
“Since the beginning of Brisbane, I wasn’t playing, and then I came back, but slowly. Then I stopped again. So I was almost, like, 15 days without hitting 100%, very intense.
“I got slowly back on court here in Melbourne, so I felt I needed more rhythm. I needed more time to prepare my physique. Yeah, I tried my best today.
“Yeah, I think bad that I wasn’t 100% playing, but at the same time, it gives me maturity to keep going, to understand my body, to understand my limits. Hopefully I’m still young and I’m still getting experience from that.”
And when asked if he regrets coming to the Australian Open or if he thinks it will help launch his season, Fonseca said: “I think everything is… I don’t regret at all.
“I think there are things in life that you need to get positive things from it, so I think the positive things… well, my back is 100%. I’m healthy again. I just needed time.
“So it was good to see how to deal with a five-set match and with the physique not 100%. I was getting tired earlier and I was not, like I said, 100%. I needed rhythm.
“But it’s good to have those experiences, how I said, to see your limits, to see how it can go. Yeah, I don’t regret a thing.”
Who is your dark horse for the 2026 Australian Open?
Joao Fonseca confirms his schedule after Australian Open disappointment
It’s an admirable attitude from Fonseca, who was under the spotlight in Melbourne after reaching the second round in 2025.
He also reached that stage at the US Open in his breakout season, along with the third rounds of both the French Open and Wimbledon.
But the teenager will undoubtedly learn from this experience, with the Brazilian already looking towards his next endeavours on the court.
READ MORE: Novak Djokovic says what he ‘honestly’ thinks about Joao Fonseca as a player
When asked for his schedule and if it’s strange to have worked so hard in pre-season to play only one hard court match before potentially switching to clay, he said: “It is. It is strange, but tennis life is like this.
“I worked a lot to play minimum three weeks. Hopefully four or five. But unfortunately I only played one match. Yeah, that’s tennis life.
“Unfortunately, I had an early injury of the season, but now back to Brazil and practice on clay and, yeah, playing Buenos Aires and Rio Open. It’s the next two goals.”
After winning the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals title, Fonseca clinched his first ATP title at Buenos Aires in 2025 aged 18.
He followed that up by lifting the trophy in Basel, with Fonseca’s future looking very bright despite his frustrating Australian Open exit.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
