Novak Djokovic lost the match to Brazilian João Fonseca by 3 sets to 2 and ended his campaign at Roland Garros in the third round of the singles draw. The historic clash was the Serb’s longest in all his appearances in the French Grand Slam.
In total, and they remained on the court during four hours and 54 minutes. Furthermore, the duel became the longest in the short career of the 19-year-old Brazilian tennis player, who came away with the victory in partials of 4/6, 4/6. 6/3, 7/5 and 7/5.
Novak is a three-time Roland Garros champion, titles won in 2016, 2021 and 2023. He has competed in the tournament annually since 2005 and had his worst result since 2009, when he fell to German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
To departure
Djokovic started the match imposing his pace and showed experience in the first games. The Serb broke Fonseca’s serve right at the opening and returned to pressure for the rest of the first set, closing the partial in 45 minutes. In the second set, the script was repeated: João managed to balance the exchanges more, confirmed good service games, but saw the veteran achieve a decisive break to open 2 sets to 0.
Even at a disadvantage, Fonseca was not intimidated. The Brazilian returned from the break more aggressive, started to cause problems during returns and grew up in front of the fans at Philippe-Chatrier. The reaction started early, with a break in the second game of the third set. Afterwards, João saved a long game of almost ten minutes to open up an advantage and fire up the French public.
The best moment came in the eighth game of the partial. With personality, Fonseca quickly confirmed the serve and led part of the crowd to shout his name on the center court. Serving to close the set, the Brazilian didn’t waste the chance and was very excited after confirming the partial victory by 6/3.
The set won had historic weight. It was the first time in ten years that Djokovic lost a set to a Brazilian tennis player in official tournaments. The last time was against Thomaz Bellucci, at the Rome Masters.
The momentum continued in the fourth set. Fonseca managed another break after wasting four break-points and continued to put pressure on the Serb in long exchanges at the back of the court. With personality, he confirmed the decisive games and won another partial, increasing the tension on the central court and rousing the French fans.
In the fifth and final set, Novak Djokovic started with a break, putting a 3-1 lead on the scoreboard. However, the tennis player from Rio responded soon after and managed to tie the match at 3-3. Later, João grew on the court and won the game to advance to the round of 16.
