Why shouldn't be 'afresh'?
I think "afresh" is proper here. "Afresh" is an adverb to describe the verb "start", while "fresh" is an adjective. It could be reworded to say, "... chance to have a fresh start." Then start has changed to a noun and the adjective,"fresh", would describe it.
Robert gets to the point quick: fresh as an adverb works just fine. I may talk fresh and fight dirty, but Robert works hard and shoots straight. And he types fast.
There are several adverbs called "flat adverbs" for which the -ly must be or may be omitted.
Here's a short (incomplete) list of examples: “far,†“fast,†“hard,†“slow,†“quick,†“straight," “clean,†“close,†“deep,†and “fineâ€.
Robert said ... Nevertheless ...