It’s been a bad start to the season for Joao Fonseca, and he now has 250 points to defend as the reigning Argentina Open champion.
Fonseca was unable to play warmup matches before the Australian Open due to a back injury and lost his opening match in Melbourne to Eliot Spizzirri in four straight sets. It may not be easy in the first round 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 already 2-2 on major tours so far this season, but finished second at the Challenger clay court in Concepcion earlier this month. While Fonseca made it through the first round as the No. 3 seed, Tabilo began his Buenos campaign with a 7-6(5), 6-3 loss to Facundo Diaz Acosta on Tuesday.
Brazilian vs. Chilean in Argentina? The only guarantee is that this will be pleasure. A slight edge goes to Fonseca, mainly because of his fond memories of last year’s tournament.
Pick: Fonseca at 3
