It was 19-year-old Brazilian João Fonseca who stood in his way in the third round of the French Championships and stopped the Serbian star from advancing in a dramatic five-hour match on Friday.
"I just enjoyed playing on this court, what an honor to be on the court against him, Djokovic. I'm very happy," said Fonseca.
Djokovic took control, winning the first two sets. But then it was Fonseca's turn to take over.
Fonseca took the third set relatively easily. The last two sets were much closer, but the young talent prevailed in both.
The match ended 3–2 in sets (4–6, 4–6, 6–3, 7–5, 7–5) in favor of Fonseca, the 28th seed, over world number four Djokovic.
"It was a tough match to lose. I could barely stand at the end of the match, and to look out at the crowd and see them lifting me up and supporting me, it was magical, honestly," Djokovic said after the heavy loss.
"He deserved to win; he was undoubtedly the better player in the important situations."
World number one Jannik Sinner withdrew from the tournament on Thursday, and world number two Carlos Alcaraz is not participating due to injury.
