Joao Fonseca stuns Novak Djokovic to ensure new grand slam champion in France

A new grand slam champion will be crowned at the French Open after teenager Joao Fonseca came of age in a thrilling five-set victory over Novak Djokovic.

Jannik Sinner’s stunning defeat on Thursday left Djokovic as the only man in the draw to have won a major title but there will be no 25th slam trophy here for the 39-year-old after he was beaten 4-6 4-6 6-3 7-5 7-5 by Brazilian Fonseca.

It is just the second time Djokovic has ever lost from two sets up, with the only previous occasion coming here 16 years ago against Jurgen Melzer.

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The Serbian has done a remarkable job at defying the sands of time but he could not finish off the irrepressible Fonseca, who looked utterly stunned as he celebrated reaching the fourth round of a slam for the first time.

Asked how he kept believing, Fonseca said: “I actually didn’t. I just played, I just enjoyed being on court, and what a match it was. What an idol we have and it was a pleasure just stepping on court against him.”

Djokovic turned to all sides of Court Philippe Chatrier as he walked off and he offered no guarantees he will be back next year, saying only, “I don’t know”, when he was asked about prospect.

He admitted he “ran out of gas” after struggling with injury over the last two months but was full of praise for his opponent.

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“Hats off,” said the former world number one. “He just played lights-out tennis. Every time there was a decisive moment, he went for it.

“The kind of level of tennis we’ve seen him play created a lot of hype around him, and I think we have all seen today why there is hype around him.”

Djokovic shrugged off