PARIS \u2014 There will be a new men\u2019s champion at the French Open after Novak Djokovic followed Jannik Sinner out of Roland Garros in a five-set stunner on Friday.<\/p>\n
Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca beat 24-time major winner Djokovic 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 in the third round to follow Thursday\u2019s huge upset, when No. 1 Sinner \u2014 last year’s runner-up\u00a0lost to 56th-ranked Juan Manuel Cerundolo.<\/p>\n
\u201cTen minutes after the match I could realize a little bit what I did, what I achieved,” the 19-year-old Fonseca said. \u201cHow difficult it was and how amazing it was for me.”<\/p>\n
Djokovic\u2019s latest quest for a record 25th Grand Slam singles title was ended and it was just the second time he lost from two sets up, the other also coming in Paris in 2010.<\/p>\n
Along with Daniil Medvedev, Marin Cilic and Stan Wawrinka, all the men’s major winners are out, thus guaranteeing that a new pair of hands will raise the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy aloft on June 7 on Court Philippe-Chatrier.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, Jannik and Djokovic out, there\u2019s more chances,\u201d said Fonseca, who next faces two-time runner-up Casper Ruud, who beat Tommy Paul 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 7-5.<\/p>\n
Second-seeded Alexander Zverev, the 2024 runner-up, also advanced to the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win late Friday over Frenchman Quentin Halys.<\/p>\n
The 39-year-old Djokovic faded as the court slowed in the evening cool.<\/p>\n
\u201cTough one for me to lose,\u201d Djokovic said. \u201cI was barely standing on my legs toward the end of the match.”<\/p>\n
In the final game, Djokovic had a break point for 6-6 but Fonseca served out with three consecutive aces and became the first teenager to beat Djokovic at a Grand Slam tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just enjoyed being on court and what a pleasure it was. It\u2019s my first stepping on court against him,\u201d Fonseca said. \u201cWe still think he\u2019s 20. At the end of the match I think he was more fit than me, that\u2019s crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fonseca wished his mother in the crowd happy birthday and thanked all the Brazilians who turned up to watch.<\/p>\n
This wasn’t as big an upset as Sinner’s loss because Djokovic came to Paris with doubts.<\/p>\n
After he lost the Australian Open final to Carlos Alcaraz, a shoulder injury limited his clay-court buildup to one competitive match and Djokovic labored for at least three hours in each of his previous two rounds before facing the full fury of Fonseca’s booming forehand.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaking everything in consideration and all the circumstances, I think the level was really good,” said Djokovic, whose last major title was the 2024 U.S. Open.<\/p>\n
The heat that stressed Sinner also got to Djokovic, who applied ice packs on both sides of his face during changeovers. Djokovic snapped at a television camera operator for getting too close to his face at one point.<\/p>\n
By the fifth set he couldn’t hide his fatigue: He hunched over the advertising boards, his forearms dangling; slumped back in his chair with a towel on his head; grabbed his head with his hands.<\/p>\n
He was gracious in defeat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told him (after the match) that he deserved to win and he should be proud of himself,” Djokovic said. “We\u2019ve all seen today why there is hype around him.”<\/p>\n
Djokovic said he was unsure if he would play at the French Open next year, although he said the same after his semifinal defeat to Sinner last year.<\/p>\n
Still unbeaten on clay this season, Marta Kostyuk reached the fourth round for the second time and set up a big match against four-time champion Iga Swiatek in the women’s draw.<\/p>\n
The 15th-ranked Ukrainian extended her winning streak on clay to 15 matches with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Viktorija Golubic\u00a0on yet another hot day in Paris.<\/p>\n
She lost to Swiatek in the fourth round in 2021. A rematch is coming up next after Swiatek defeated fellow Polish player Magda Linette 6-4, 6-4.<\/p>\n
Swiatek has won in straight sets all three times against Kostyuk and boasts a 43-3 record at Roland Garros.<\/p>\n
Seventh-seeded Elina Svitolina was another Ukrainian woman to advance. She beat Tamara Korpatsch 6-2, 6-3.<\/p>\n
Also advancing was 36-year-old Sorana Cirstea, who routed Solana Sierra and became the oldest player in the Open Era to claim a 6-0, 6-0 win in a Grand Slam tournament. She next faces China’s Wang Xiyu, who has still not dropped a set.<\/p>\n
Eighth-seeded Mirra Andreeva progressed with a 6-4, 6-2 win against Czech opponent Marie Bouzkova and leads the women\u2019s tour with 32 victories this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PARIS \u2014 There will be a new men\u2019s champion at the French Open after Novak Djokovic followed Jannik…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":702772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-702771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=702771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=702771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=702771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=702771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}