Teenager inflict third-round exit on Djokovic at French Open

Novak Djokovic has been knocked out of the French Open following a five-set defeat to teenager Joao Fonseca. The Brazilian youngster scored the biggest win of his career knocking out the Serbian three-time French Open champion who suffered a shock exit. The 19-year-old achieved the feat by coming from two sets down to win 4-6 […]

Novak Djokovic has been knocked out of the French Open following a five-set defeat to teenager Joao Fonseca.

The Brazilian youngster scored the biggest win of his career knocking out the Serbian three-time French Open champion who suffered a shock exit.

The 19-year-old achieved the feat by coming from two sets down to win 4-6 4-6 6-3 7-5 7-5.

Djokovic was the firm favourite to win the Grand Slam event due to the absence of injured Carlos Alcaraz and the shock exit of Jannick Sinner on Thursday, but the 23-time Grand Slam winner met a resilient Fonseca who exposed Djokovic’s age to take the career-defining win in five sets.

The match lasted four hours and 53 minutes, the second longest match at Roland Garros so far this year.

Djokovic stormed into a 5-1 lead to take the first set despite Fonseca’s brief fight back, and the 39-year-old veteran nipped the second set with same scoreline.

However, a tired-looking Djokovic was no match for Fonseca thereafter, with the youngster taking the third 6-3. He almost wasted an early lead, but stayed in the game to serve out the fourth set 7-5, and also came back from a 3-1 deficit in the deciding set to deliver a win that not only shocked the spectators but also provided entertainment.

Speaking after his deserved victory, Fonseca revealed his shock at knocking out arguably the most successful men’s tennis player ever in a first-ever meeting with Djokovic.

“I actually didn’t believe I could win the match, I just played and enjoyed being on the court. What an idol we have and what a pleasure it was to step on the court against him – it was my first time – so I thank him, I am very happy.”

An unhappy Djokovic was angry with himself for losing a two-set lead, but also praised the youngster’s bravery

“Huge credit to Joao for really deserving to win the match. I think he, without a doubt, was the better player in important moments in those crucial fourth and fifth.”

“I congratulated him and told him he deserved to win and he played an unbelievable match and wished him good luck for the rest of the tournament. The kind of tennis we’ve seen him play has created a lot of hype around him. And I think we’ve all seen that hype around him. The level was amazing.”

Djokovic, with 101 career ATP titles so far, has not won a tournament this year.