It has been a rough start to the season for Joao Fonseca, and now he has 250 points to defend as the reigning champion of the Argentina Open.
Fonseca was unable to play any warmup events prior to the Australian Open because of a back injury and he lost his opening match in Melbourne to Eliot Spizzirri in four mostly routine sets. It may not get any easier in round one of this ATP 250 event in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, as Alejandro Tabilo will be on the other side of the net. Tabilo won their only previous meeting 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 on the red clay of Bucharest in 2024.
The 71st-ranked Chilean is just 2-2 on the main tour so far this season, but he finished runner-up at a clay-court Challenger in Concepcion earlier this month. Whereas Fonseca earned a first-round bye as the No. 3 seed, Tabilo kicked off his Buenos campaign with a 7-6(5), 6-3 defeat of Facundo Diaz Acosta on Tuesday.
A Brazilian vs. a Chilean in Argentina? The only guarantee is that this one is going to be fun. A slight edge goes to Fonseca, largely because of his great memories from last year at this tournament.
Pick: Fonseca in 3