By his own assessment, Novak Djokovic did not do much wrong in his 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 loss to Joao Fonseca in round three of the French Open on Friday evening. Fonseca was simply too good — and too clutch — over the final three sets.
“(It was) an incredible match to be part of,” Djokovic said during his post-match press conference. “Obviously (a) tough one for me to lose being two sets to love up, but 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. Some amazing exchanges and points. Yeah, he just found incredible shots, lines. It was just amazing from his side.
“Obviously not great for me to be facing a player playing in such level, but yeah, I don’t think I’ve done too much wrong with my game. It’s just that he was just better.”
In addition to being up two sets and eventually by a break in the fifth, as well, Djokovic had double-break point to take a 5-3 lead in the fourth. He was also two points from the match with Fonseca serving at 4-5, 30-30 in the fourth. At the very end, the 24-time slam champ had a break point to force a decisive tiebreaker. But in almost every pressure moment over the course of four hours and 53 minutes, the 19-year-old Brazilian came up with answers.
“I think end of the fourth was my chance — I felt like (my) best chance,” Djokovic reflected. “4-3, 15-40. He just played really good points. He was attacking; big serves. When I look back in important moments, could I have done something different? You know, you can always say yes — but you just have to say, ‘Well done,’ and congratulate him. Hats off. He just played lights-out tennis. Every time there was a decisive moment, he went for it.
“Maybe the only my fault was at 3-1 in the fifth and serving and when I dropped serve. But, again, he played a couple of very aggressive points, and any ball coming to his forehand, around the forehand, mid-forehands, he was crushing it. It was really hard to read, and he was just playing with extreme pace.
“(I had) break point to come back to the match — three aces. What can you do? (The) strongest aces he [had] the whole match — 220 (kph), 215. So the only thing you can say is, ‘Well done.’ That’s it.”
Is that it for Djokovic at Roland Garros? The three-time champion was non-committal.
“I don’t know,” he responded when asked if he would be back at this event in 2027.
If not, would he be content to have played his final match in Paris in that kind of fashion against that kind of opponent.
“I don’t know.”