Joao Fonseca pulled off the biggest win of his career at Roland Garros on Friday, coming back from two sets down to knock Novak Djokovic out of the tournament.
Fonseca, who has been tipped as the next big star in tennis over the past year, came back from two sets down to beat Djokovic and put an end to potentially the best chance the Serb will get at securing a 25th major.
The 19-year-old Brazilian won 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5. The result ensured that men’s tennis will crown a new Grand Slam champion at this event.
At just 19 years old, Fonseca became the first teenager to beat Djokovic at a major and also became the first to win multiple matches from two sets down in a single Grand Slam – following his earlier comeback against Dino Prizmic in round two.
Reacting to the match, former US Open champion Andy Roddick claimed Fonseca executed one thing ‘perfectly’.
Andy Roddick shares his thoughts on Joao Fonseca’s win over Novak Djokovic
Speaking on an episode of ‘Served’, Roddick said: “I know Novak was a little tired, but 70 winners, 39 unforced errors, 71% first serves. Novak played well. Fonseca beat him.
“It’s the best I’ve ever seen him play on the biggest stage that he’s probably been on. Right? Like, I don’t know that we’ve had this moment, and someone kind of rise to that moment. You hope this is the first of many for Fonseca.
“Because one, it’s a fine line for a young player to engage the crowd without being disrespectful or showing up someone as great as Novak. He hit it perfectly. Yeah.
“No notes. Anything, anything he did to the crowd, notice he was pretty much always facing away from Novak. And it was a hand, not a bit. He handled the moment perfectly.
“He engaged the crowd, he used him when he needed to, but there was nothing that was even close to friction between these two. Like, zero. There was no one upping, I don’t care who this guy is, I’m gonna go out… There was none of that. It was, like, as hard as you can see two guys compete.
“Different moments of their careers. One, grinding for that first big signature win after a couple years of hype, where we’re surprised to see a 28 next to his name here. Like, we thought that was gonna be an eight or a three or a five. Right?
Who does Joao Fonseca face next at Roland Garros?
Fonseca has reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, but the challenge only gets tougher from here. Next up is Casper Ruud, a player with plenty of experience and success on clay.
Ruud is well known for his abilities on this surface and has twice finished as runner-up at Roland Garros, making it to the final in both 2022 and 2023.
The Norwegian also had to battle back from two sets down in his previous match, coming through an exhausting contest against Tommy Paul to book his place in the fourth round.
This will be the first meeting between Fonseca and Ruud at this level, with a place in the French Open quarterfinals on the line.
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