Novak Djokovic’s clearest path to 25 Grand Slam titles is lost on the red clay of the French Open

To follow The Athletics live report from Day 8 of the French Open.

PARIS — There are plenty of reasons why Novak Djokovic continues to play tennis.

The competition makes him feel alive. He enjoys playing for his fans and opponents all over the world, and he knows better than anyone that tennis players are not robots. There was always a chance that the planets would one day align, eliminating Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner and providing a clear runway to a 25th Grand Slam title.

So he tried to stay fit and in shape, without exhausting himself. He looked for the balance between too much and too little tennis, so that he could peak four times a year. And four out of four times in the past twelve months he encountered Sinner or Alcaraz. Even when he defeated Sinner in a five-set semifinal thriller at the Australian Open in January, Alcaraz waited in the final.

Djokovic, 39, could climb one mountain. He couldn’t climb two.

Then, a few weeks ago, the news came. Alcaraz had a serious wrist problem. It would prevent him from defending his title at Roland Garros.

Just under 30 hours ago, a day of suboptimal health for Sinner and the Paris heat wave did their work. First there were two mountains. Then there were none.

The road was open. There was nothing but the flat red clay of Court Philippe-Chatrier before him, with no generational enemies to worry about and cooler weather forecast for the second week. He had used up a little too much energy by losing a set in each of his first two matches, but his level rose and once again everything seemed to be going his way.

What terrible tricks tennis can play on its biggest stars.

One moment the elusive glory is yours for the taking. The next, João Fonseca, an acclaimed star who still seems a few seasons away from realizing his scandalous potential, grows up in just three sets of sublime tennis, or perhaps a single match, at 5-5 in the fifth set, while Djokovic has so often dashed his opponents’ hopes.

Over the final two and a half hours, the Brazilian delivered the kind of triumph that can accelerate a career. It was a pivotal moment that could make someone of Fonseca’s rare gifts believe he belongs, expressed in a 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 win that lasted four hours and 53 minutes.

A fan of first-strike tennis, Fonseca, like many of his generation, has spent most of the past two years winning matches with his arm and his shoulder. On Friday he won the biggest of his life with his legs, feet and brains.

In the third set, he said, he focused on pushing his returns deep and building points with more safety. “Aggressive, but with margin,” he said at a press conference.

By shooting at larger targets he can unleash his power. That power, and Djokovic’s need to defend against it, opened up the front of the court, just as Djokovic has done with so many others for so many years. Fonseca was finally constructing points like the best do.

“He was without a doubt the better player at key moments in that crucial fourth and fifth set,” Djokovic said at his press conference.

“Some great exchanges and points. He just found incredible shots and lines. It was just great on his part. Obviously it’s not great for me to face a player who plays at such a level, but yeah, I don’t think I did too much wrong with my game. It was just that he was just better.”

For two and a half years at the Grand Slams, there has always been someone there. Maybe there will always be someone there.

No one can predict the future. Even stranger things can happen. Yet what looked like Djokovic’s best chance to claim another crown has evaporated.

“It would be nice if it was a best-of-three, but that’s not the case,” Djokovic said. “I ran out of gas.”

Djokovic congratulates João Fonseca after their five-set French Open epic. (Mustafa Yalcin/Getty Images)

He didn’t want to talk about what had gone beyond his reach, which meant that any discussion about the fact that Sinner and Alcaraz were gone would get him in trouble and block the opportunity everyone knew was before him.

“I don’t care,” he said when asked about the impact of losing Sinner on his mindset. “I’ll stop you there. No. I just lost the third round. Let’s just talk about something else.”

Fonseca had a different perspective. “At the end of the match I think he was fitter than me,” Fonseca said on Court Philippe-Chatrier after pulling off his miraculous comeback to reduce Djokovic’s record as he held a two-set lead to just 301-2.

Djokovic played the last two and a half hours like a man desperate not to let this opportunity slip through his fingers. He wanted to win and win quickly, to preserve energy for the second week. He played with an urgency he didn’t need before, when wear and tear wasn’t an issue, while perhaps his greatest weapon was his willingness to stay as long as necessary, lap after lap.

However, urgency can be dangerous. It’s hard enough to win matches at Grand Slams without worrying about how long they will last.

But when the sun was still in the sky over Roland Garros, Djokovic was one set away from giving a three-set masterclass to a kid still learning to play against the best of the best on the biggest stages.

As the sun set in the fourth set, Djokovic was two points away from going the distance. Fonseca unleashed a serve and a forehand and extinguished the danger.

About half an hour later, two forehand winners and yet another beautiful drop volley of his career gave Djokovic a break-up in the fifth set. He was three games away from an ice bath and a phone call home to his kids, and the moment when most of his opponents cowered and left had arrived.

Instead, Fonseca compressed a year or more of maturation into eight games of tennis. First he handed over his business card. A flurry of blistering forehands delivered nine straight points to seize the momentum. During the substitution, Djokovic leaned back on his bench, covering his face with a towel, trying to see what he had just experienced. No luck. He wiped his head with an ice pack.

Before Friday, Fonseca had never competed on Court Philippe-Chatrier, or any of the Grand Slams’ biggest courts. He had never played against Djokovic. The 19-year-old, who arrived in earnest long after Roger Federer had left, two months removed from Rafael Nadal’s send-off, and six months after Andy Murray finally called it quits, had missed them. And then the one remaining legend he watched as a boy stood on the other side of the net.

Late on Wednesday night, after coming back from two sets down for the first time in his career to beat Croatian Dino Prižmić, Fonseca said he had long wanted to play in Djokovic’s draw at a major. He knows the GOAT’s career is coming to an end. He said he wanted the experience of playing him. Then he imagined what that feeling would be like.

“For me it is just a dream to participate in the third round of Roland Garros,” Fonseca said at a press conference. “I’m going to enjoy every moment of playing against an idol, the GOAT of the sport. Of course I’m going to be on the field, of course I’m going to respect him, but I’m going to try to do my best and win this match.”

It’s hard to believe he imagined it this way: a climb out of an insanely deep hole. He had won tournaments before. He had beaten the top 10 players. He had never done anything like he did when night had fallen and Djokovic’s tennis witching hour – the final stages of a fifth set at a Grand Slam – had arrived.

In the closing minutes, the Fonseca and Djokovic fans entered into a battle with the chants. Fonseca was given the song ‘Olé’. Djokovic heard his name echo from the stands. It became 5-5. Fonseca, the player who everyone knows can make a tennis ball explode, who everyone has seen become too exuberant in tight moments, hits a drop shot. Then he hit another. When Djokovic turned 0-40 into 30-40 and was ready to force deuce, he hit another. Pinned deep, Djokovic could only watch as the ball dropped over the net. Fonseca was a match away.

When Djokovic gave him a break point on the verge of victory, his talent had long been threatened, and Fonseca was unperturbed. He hit one ace wide. Then one along the T. And then another in the same place.

João Fonseca achieved the biggest victory of his career over Novak Djokovic. (Tim Clayton/Getty Images)

Djokovic has been in the same spot since the end of 2023, with 24 Grand Slam titles. He could not hold back the rising tide of Sinner and Alcaraz, nor could he accept that someone who had achieved so many impossible triumphs did not have at least one more miracle in his racket bag. It’s a truth that every all-time great tries to ignore until they can’t ignore it anymore.

Djokovic turned 39 last week, two days before Roland Garros started, and six days before this magical opportunity for more glory came to life.

A little over 24 hours later, while Sinner and Alcaraz were far away, he watched as another child, who is expected to help fill the void he will leave behind, fire off three final aces to send him home.

Unless something unexpected happens, Djokovic will be at the All England Club for Wimbledon in a month’s time, where he will try for 25 again. There will be another chance. He is a lawn master. Alcaraz will still be absent.

But will it be as good as this one? Even if it does, it could be for naught as Fonseca, or another young Tyro, is ready to grow up in real time.