Novak Djokovic took aim at a Roland Garros cameraman during his shock five-set defeat by teenage Brazilian Joao Fonseca on Friday.
The former world No1, two sets up but clearly feeling the pace, reacted sarcastically when a cameraman got too close for his liking, shouting: ‘Can you come more in my face? For God’s sake make some space.’
The operative then backed away, but the match started to slip from Djokovic’s grasp.
Much later on, after he’d clinched the first break in the deciding set, he was bent over the advertising hoardings, gasping for air. He then wiped his face with his towel. Anything for a moment’s respite.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion had been out on Court Philippe-Chatrier long enough to know things were far from done.
So much for that stroll to number 25. So much for Jannik Sinner’s meltdown the previous afternoon opening up the path for Djokovic to march on to a quarter of a century.
Novak Djokovic was spotted remonstrating with a cameraman during his French Open defeat
When you’re touching 40 and have a teenage Brazalian superstar whacking balls back at you again and again and again in the heat and humidity of an unprecedented Paris heatwave, things aren’t ever going to come easy.
Fonseca, this brilliant, belligerent young striker of a tennis ball, was going nowhere. He broke back immediately, pushing Djokovic further and further back, eventually forcing him to push the decisive shot wide beyond the tramlines. He then served his own game to love.
The Brazil shirts in the crowd leapt to their feet to roar Fonseca’s name as their man played conductor. Others cooled themselves with fans coloured in their national flag while others swirled yellow shirts over their heads. Djokovic sat in his chair, an ice pack around his neck and stared to the sky as if looking for inspiration.
Still they exchanged blows, both pulling out the full range of superhuman strokes. Djokovic held a massive serve at deuce and did his own bit of crowd work. Are you not entertained? When he drilled a backhand down the line to hold serve after another breathless rally and move a game away from victory, there were no histrionics, just a walk to his chair. He’d been 5-4 up in the fourth set, too, two points from victory and he’d still lost that.
By this stage, every point felt gladiatorial. Each one took the last drop of energy and imagination. A cross court drop shot from Fonseca, in response to one of Djokovic’s own, put him 30-0 on Djokovic’s serve at 5-5. Another drop shot and it was 0-40. And then another at 30-40 to break him and serve for the match.
15-0, 15-15, 30-15, 30-30…then the most marginally long strike from Fonseca made it 30-40. Break point. No worries, back-to-back aces to bring up match point, and another to send Djokovic packing
Of the 280 previous occasions when Djokovic had taken the first two sets at Grand Slams, he had gone on to win 279 of them. The only one he lost was in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros in 2010 to Jurgen Melzer. Make that two.
How on earth did he keep believing he could win? ‘I actually didn’t,’ said Fonseca afterwards.
Djokovic had taken great umbrage to suggestions his 3hr 44min second-round match against Valentin Royer over four sets in the night session, was only ‘reasonably long’. ‘When you play a three-and-a-half hour match on clay, it’s long and very exhausting,’ he had replied.
Djokovic led by two sets before suffering a shock loss at the hands of Joao Fonseca, 19
Try 4hr 53min this time.
After the first two sets, it never, ever felt like it would go this way. Djokovic had looked in control, in his rhythm, even against this remarkable young man. He took the openers 6-4, 6-4 and all seemed well. This wasn’t going to be another Sinner.
And, in a way, it wasn’t. Djokovic wasn’t beaten by the conditions like Sinner was, he was beaten by a sensational, generational talent.
There are a few of them left in this draw with seventeen-year-old Frenchman Moise Kouame and 19-year-old Spaniard Rafael Jodar still going.
No one left in the draw has won a Grand Slam. There’s going to be a new name on the trophy. Fonseca just produced a performance that proved it could well be his.
