Novak Djokovic’s wait for a record 25th Grand Slam singles title goes on after teenage star Joao Fonseca produced a stunning fightback to win a five-set epic in the French Open third round.
The Serb was the only player left in the draw who had won a major title and was arguably the favourite to go all the way after world number one Jannik Sinner lost on Thursday.
But after winning the first two sets, Djokovic was gradually overpowered by 19-year-old Fonseca, who hit back to force a decider.
In front of a raucous crowd, Fonseca battled back from 3-1 down in the fifth set to win 4-6 4-6 6-3 7-5 7-5 after a gruelling four hours and 53 minutes.
Djokovic said Fonseca had clearly shown why he was so highly rated despite struggling for consistency this season.
“I congratulated him and told him that he deserved to win and played an unbelievable match, and he should be proud of himself,” said Djokovic.
“The kind of level of tennis we’ve seen him play created a lot of hype around him, and I think we’ve all seen today why there is hype around him. The level was amazing.”
(BBC)
