French Open 2026: João Fonseca living the dream after beating his "idol" Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic gave his all at the French Open 2026 on Friday (29 May) but eventually fell in a gruelling five-set, third-round marathon against João Fonseca.

With the men’s bracket of the tournament blown open after Jannik Sinner’s shock defeat, another huge star exited the tournament as the Paris 2024 gold medallist lost 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 to the 19-year-old Brazilian, who went on the attack after going two sets down.

Fonseca said afterwards: "He’s such an idol, and it was a pleasure just stepping on to the court against him. It was my first time playing against him, so I’m just thankful for that.

"I was just trying to hit the ball as hard as I could. Djokovic is… he just doesn’t miss. He’s amazing. I think at the end of the match, he was fitter than me. It’s crazy, but as the day got darker, I felt my energy drop a lot.

"At the beginning, I was still struggling a bit with the heat. I wasn’t feeling very good. After that, I felt better.

"I just believed I could do it. I’d never done that before, and I was just super happy that I managed to finish like that.

"One of the things I learned from him was to serve well in important moments. At that point, I just focused on making a high ball toss and exploding through the shot.

"I'm exhausted, I can't even think. I'm just enjoying the moment. What a moment! I still can't believe it."

Novak Djokovic sets off at a sprint but slows down

Djokovic’s first set was a scramble rather than the initial sprint his opening moments might have suggested. Fonseca showed guts in the eye of his childhood hero’s fast start, clawing back from 5-1 down to go 5-4, but couldn’t cut the deficit in time as Djokovic took the final game.

A ramped-up second set saw the Serb extend his lead in a slightly easier fashion. Through still strained back by the off-paced drives and force of his young counterpart, a wonderful cross-court backhand doubled his lead.

But the third set transformed the match into a staunch test of the reserves of Djokovic. The 28th seed Fonseca’s relentlessness in the face of the challenge of the 39-year-old earned him the support of the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd.

An array of powerful forehands, finished off by a pair of aces, flipped the momentum firmly towards the Brazilian to take the match to the fourth.

Sustaining his tempo in the face of growing frustration of the three-time French Open champion, Fonseca broke in the opening game of the fourth. But a spark of hope against the tide of proceedings emerged for Djokovic, taking the lead for the first time in the fourth set as the third hour ticked by.

On the brink of a Djokovic triumph, the fourth set hung long in the balance. Back and forth between the pair, the Serbian came within two points of victory before Fonseca responded to claw a game from deuce once more.

Another full-throttle forehand and volley launched the young Brazilian level to force a fifth set.

Djokovic broke Fonseca in the third game of the fifth set, but the teenager came straight back to level matters at 3-3.

At 5-5, Fonseca had three break points - and finally converted on the third opportunity before serving out for a momentous victory.

Djokovic said in the post-match press conference: "I congratulated him

and told him that he deserved to win and played an unbelievable match, and he should be proud of himself... wishing him good luck for the rest of the tournament.

"The kind of level of tennis we've seen him play created a lot of hype around him, and I think we all seen today why there is hype around him. The level was amazing."

Norway's Casper Ruud saved two match points in the fourth set and advanced to the fourth round after defeating Tommy Paul in five sets, while second-seed Alexander Zverev of Germany defeated France's Quentin Halys in four sets.

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