Long before he did anything close to what he pulled off Friday, the tennis world expected João Fonseca would eventually turn the Carlos Alcaraz-Jannik Sinner duopoly into a threesome.
So strong was the reputation of this teenager from Rio de Janeiro that he was selling out stadiums in South America and sparking mayhem at the Miami Open before he even registered a result worthy of the hype. With otherworldly power but questionable movement and a somewhat doughy physique, the bandwagon got a little lighter over the last year when the success everyone anticipated didn’t materialize right away.
Good luck getting a seat on that bandwagon now.
Fonseca, just 10-9 this season on the ATP Tour coming into the French Open, has finally arrived in a big way. Down two sets to the all-time great Novak Djokovic, who made his first quarterfinal at Roland Garros a couple months before Fonseca was born, the 19-year-old Brazilian finally merged talent with expectation to get the win of his life.
After four hours, 53 minutes of electric, next-level tennis, Fonseca boomed three consecutive aces to finish off a 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 victory, turned around in disbelief and walked to the net where a smiling Djokovic offered an embrace and a tacit recognition that this is a match people will be talking about for a long time to come.
Much like Wimbledon 25 years ago when a much-hyped 19-year old named Roger Federer unseated a fading Pete Sampras — also 7-5 in the fifth — it was one of those inter-generational moments you get every now and then in tennis where someone pegged for greatness finally rises to their destiny.
And also like Federer, who needed two more years before he won his first Grand Slam, Fonseca is far from a finished a product. Who knows, he may end up holding the trophy at Roland Garros this year; after all, with Djokovic following Sinner out of the draw after he melted in the Paris heat, someone is going to win their first Grand Slam title next Sunday.
Odds are it won’t be Fonseca. It’s not just the lack of experience deep in Grand Slams — this is the first time he’s ever advanced to the round of 16 — he’s also now played consecutive five-setters. Having never been forced to exert himself to this degree, who knows how much he’s got left in the legs.
But in some ways, that’s not really the point.
Over the last two years, men’s tennis has desperately needed another young guy to step up and show that they can be a threat to Sinner and Alcaraz in much the same way Djokovic managed to barge his way into the Federer-Rafael Nadal rivalry early in the 2010s.
It might take him a little longer than it took Alcaraz, who was ready to roll at 19, but Fonseca proved Friday he is that guy.
Despite his age, the doubts were reasonable. It was easy to see all the elite-level stuff in his game — the booming forehand, the ability to vary pace and trajectory on his shots, the natural impulse to play offensive tennis — but he wasn’t doing enough winning. Not for a kid that people in the know were already touting as a superstar two or three years ago.
Players of that talent level will either never get there or have a moment where it all starts coming together.
After watching what we saw Friday, you should bet heavily on the latter.
Yes, at age 39, Djokovic is past his prime and does not thrive in hot conditions. But this match was not about an old guy struggling with the athleticism of a younger, fitter opponent.
On the contrary, that was arguably the best match Djokovic has played this year — an even better level than when he knocked Sinner out of the Australian Open semifinals.
He was great; perhaps good enough to have beaten anybody else in the field Friday. Fonseca was just otherworldly, ripping forehands, tracking down dropshots, coming up huge with his serve in clutch moments over the final two sets when Djokovic had chances to slam the door.
There’s a reason Djokovic was 289-1 at the Slams before Friday after winning the first two sets. This was all about Fonseca, to the point where Djokovic was frequently laughing in disbelief about some of the lines Fonseca was hitting and magic he was producing. Though perhaps he will consider it a missed opportunity, given how wide open this French Open has become, he has nothing to be disappointed about in the way that match played out.
By now, Djokovic should be used to these passing-of-the-torch moments. It’s the price of hanging around and being this good for so long.
But for someone who appreciates the history of the sport and his place in it as much as Djokovic, the opportunity for a 19-year old to beat the 39-year old GOAT in a match like that is almost as special as holding the trophy.
Djokovic has won 24 Grand Slams. The number of matches that will stand the test of time and transcend our fading memories is far fewer.
If Friday was the day Fonseca emerged as the player so many people have expected him to become, they’ll forever be linked on the red clay of Roland Garros. Like Federer and Sampras 25 years ago, the lore of what we watched will only grow stronger and the moment in tennis history memorialized as the day a new star was truly born.
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