Surprise in Paris
The third round of the French Open left one of the biggest surprises of the tournament. Brazilian Joao Fonseca, 19, eliminated Novak Djokovic in five sets: 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5.
Djokovic, winner of 24 Grand Slam titles, faded with the coolness of the night. “I was barely standing on my legs towards the end,” he admitted. Fonseca, for his part, closed the last game with three consecutive aces and became the first teenager to beat the Serb in a major.
“Ten minutes after the match I was able to realize what I achieved,” declared the young man, who will now face two-time runner-up Casper Ruud.
Djokovic’s defeat adds to that of Jannik Sinner, world number one, who fell to Argentine Juan Manuel Cerúndolo (56th in the ranking). This guarantees a new men’s champion at Roland Garros. All the major winners in the men’s draw — Djokovic, Sinner, Medvedev, Cilic, Wawrinka — were out.
Match details
Djokovic arrived in Paris with doubts after a shoulder injury. During the match, he applied ice packs to his face and showed signs of fatigue in the fifth set. Even so, he recognized Fonseca’s merit: “I told him he deserved to win. Today we all saw why there is so much expectation.”
In the women’s draw, Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk advanced to the fourth round by beating Viktorija Golubic 6-4, 6-3. His streak on clay reaches 15 victories. She will now face Iga Swiatek, a four-time champion in Paris, who beat Magda Linette 6-4, 6-4. Swiatek has a 3-0 record against Kostyuk and a 43-3 record at Roland Garros.
Also notable was the Romanian Sorana Cirstea, 36, who achieved a double 6-0 against Solana Sierra, the most resounding victory in the open era in a Grand Slam. Russian Mirra Andreeva (seeded 8) remains strong after beating Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2, and leads the women’s circuit with 32 wins this season.
