One year after his first major ATP breakthrough — winning the Buenos Aires title at 18 — Joao Fonseca returned to the same clay event as defending champion and No. 3 seed and suffered an early exit. He lost in the opening round to Alejandro Tabilo, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, a defeat that extended a three-match losing streak and renewed questions about his physical readiness.

“If I say no, I’d be lying, so yes, I certainly felt a bit more pressure,” Fonseca said after the match. “I felt tense from the beginning of the match. I tried to bring intensity, motivation, eagerness, even sought support from the crowd, but it wasn’t my day. There was a lack of conviction and confidence…”

“I tried everything to motivate myself,” he added. “I was pissed off with my legs, which weren’t moving the way they needed to. My body wasn’t helping me hit the right shots I wanted.”

A lower back injury troubled Fonseca at the end of last season and affected the start of 2026. He withdrew from his scheduled Australian Open tune-ups in Brisbane and Adelaide, then fell in the first round in Melbourne to Eliot Spizzirri in four sets.

“I was born with a back problem and suffered a stress fracture five years ago,” he told Brazilian press after pulling out from Brisbane. “Some days I feel more pain than others. It’s an injury that never fully disappears, but one I have to learn to manage day to day.

“Over the last few days, I’ve felt like I was improving a bit, but it’s hard to say if I’ll be at 100 percent.”

According to his team, the chronic condition is called lumbar hypolordosis, also known as flat back syndrome, in which the lower spine has lost its natural curve. “João has a straightened spine and suffered a stress fracture five years ago, when he was still a juvenile. Thus, the lower back is the most sensitive area of his body and, because he is a high-performance athlete, it requires constant care,” says a statement provided to GE (Globo Sports). “Soon, João will be back to the tournaments, 100 percent recovered. The mentality of the team is always to preserve the athlete’s health, aiming for a long-term career.”

Medical notes in the report say flatback can reduce mobility and increase the risk of ongoing pain and secondary injuries. Treatment commonly involves physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medication, injections and pain management aimed at posture and symptom control.

Fonseca now turns his focus to the ATP 500 Rio Open on home soil. “They say ‘Joao is going to be the next Guga, the next Alcaraz’, I’m writing my own story and doing everything at my own pace,” Fonseca said. “What I can do on my part is work really hard on my mentality and my physique.”

Zheng Qinwen begins her 2026 season at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open on Monday, marking her first tournament appearance since a first-round exit at Wimbledon and just one event played since that loss. The former world No. 4 spent much of 2025 managing an elbow injury that forced her to miss last year’s US Open and this year’s Australian Open, where she was not fit to compete.

“I feel great to be back on the tour,” Zheng said on Saturday. “I especially missed the tournaments and the competition. I missed the way you have to put your blood into a match.”

Her most recent outing came at the China Open in Beijing, where she retired in the third round against Linda Noskova. After withdrawing from the first major tournament of the season, Zheng outlined the demands of Grand Slam level play and her recovery timeline.

“Although my recovery is progressing well and my offseason has gone smoothly, to play a Grand Slam requires players to maintain an extreme competitive condition,” Zheng explained after withdrawing from the first major tournament of the season. “Currently, I have not yet reached my best condition that I have set for myself.”

Before the elbow problem, Zheng produced strong results on clay, reaching the semifinals at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. At Rome she recorded a notable win over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on her run to the semifinals. She was the runner-up at the Australian Open in 2023.

“It’s been a while,” Zheng said. “I never thought this injury would take me so long and a surgery. It was much longer than I thought. But I’m back and in better shape. I just hope I can do well at this tournament and give my best on court.”

Zheng’s return in Doha will be watched for signs of how close she is to the form that carried her to deep runs at major events and big clay tournaments in the season before the injury.

Sorana Cirstea produced a commanding performance to capture the Transylvania Open, defeating top seed Emma Raducanu 6-0, 6-2. The 35-year-old, who has said she will retire at the end of 2026, did not drop a set en route to her fourth career WTA singles title and closed the final in 63 minutes on Center Court in Cluj-Napoca.

Cirstea dominated early, winning the first eight games and delivering a first-set bagel against the former US Open champion. She reached the trophy after a week that included a quarterfinal victory over defending champion Anastasia Potapova and a semifinal in which Ukrainian Daria Snigur was held to three games.

A former world No. 21, Cirstea has displayed remarkable consistency over 20 years on tour, reaching two WTA quarterfinals and finishing 16 seasons ranked inside the Top 100. Her final Australian Open earlier this year ended in an emotional exchange when she lashed out at former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka at the net over perceived gamesmanship, but she sought to put that behind her in the days that followed.

“I never thought I would play for such a long time,” Cirstea said back in January. “I’m very, very grateful to have had such a long career. Of course, a little bit disappointed about tonight. I thought I could have done things better, but only one player can win, and she managed to do that better at the end.”

Raducanu arrived in the final on the back of a career resurgence, having finished 2025 inside the Top 30 and reaching her first final since winning the 2021 US Open. Her run in Cluj-Napoca included overcoming a 0-5 deficit in the second round against Kaja Juvan and a three-set win over Oleksandra Oliynykova in the quarterfinals, but she was unable to find enough rhythm against the veteran in the title match. Raducanu did take a medical timeout in the final and briefly halted Cirstea’s streak with a break, yet Cirstea reasserted control to close out the victory.