Novak Djokovic will not win a record 25th Grand Slam title at this year's French Open. A 19-year-old knocked him out.
Joao Fonseca of Brazil defeated Djokovic 4-6 4-6 6-3 7-5 7-5 in four hours and 53 minutes on Friday at Roland Garros in Paris. Fonseca became the first teenager ever to beat Djokovic at a major tournament.
Djokovic won the first two sets and led 3-1 in the fifth before Fonseca turned the match around entirely. According to BBC Sport, it is only the third time in 22 appearances that Djokovic has failed to reach the second week at Roland Garros.
The 39-year-old Djokovic was widely seen as the favorite to win the tournament after world number one Jannik Sinner lost in the second round on Thursday. Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz skipped the clay-court major due to injury. Djokovic has not won a Grand Slam since the 2023 US Open.
The loss means the 2026 French Open will produce a first-time Grand Slam champion.
Fonseca, the world number 30, reflected on his win after the match.
"I actually didn't believe I could win the match. I just played and enjoyed being in the court," he said.
He also described what it was like to face a player he grew up watching.
"I was just trying to hit the ball as fast as I could. Djokovic doesn't miss and we still think he's 20. At the end of the match, he was more fit than me. When the day was getting darker, I felt much slower."
In the deciding moments of the match, Fonseca struck three straight aces in the 12th game of the fifth set to save a break point and then convert match point. Earlier in the match, Djokovic had appeared exhausted, leaning over his towel box between points, while Fonseca hit booming forehands and drop-shot winners.
Fonseca first made international headlines at the 2025 Australian Open, where he beat ninth-seeded Andrey Rublev on his Grand Slam debut. At the time, Djokovic himself said of the then-18-year-old: "He's got the goods."
He won his first ATP title on the clay courts of Buenos Aires in February 2025 and added a second at last October's Swiss Indoors. This is his first time reaching the second week of a major.
In the fourth round, Fonseca will face two-time finalist Casper Ruud.
