Joao Fonseca Highlights the Difference in Beating Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud at Roland Garros

Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca backed up his win over Novak Djokovic with a triumph against former finalist Casper Ruud at Roland Garros. Fonseca has now beaten two former finalists at the tournament and has secured his place in the quarter-finals of the event. He reflected on the difference in his match against Ruud and Djokovic.

Fonseca has defied all odds at the French Open by reaching the quarter-finals. He had entered the tournament with just one win in two tournaments and was not expected to perform at his best level considering his low confidence. But the 19-year-old looks like a revived player on the clay court and has been excellent thus far.

He faced Djokovic in the third round of the French Open and was just five points from defeat when he served at 3-4 (15/40) in the fourth set. Djokovic was at the top of his game at that moment and full of confidence, but the 28th seed fended off two break points and rode with the momentum to win the match 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5.

The teenager went up against Ruud, who is seeking to win his first Grand Slam at the Roland Garros having reached the finals twice. But the tie was much easier compared to the one against Djokovic. Fonseca controlled the match, utilizing his booming forehand shots, winning 21 of his 28 groundstrokes in the tie.

Ruud was forced to make mistakes, spraying 53 unforced errors to Fonseca’s 41, which gave the latter the advantage to win the match 7-5, 7-6(8), 5-7, 6-2 after three hours at the Court Philippe-Chatrier. Speaking after the match, he explained that his match-up against Djokovic was more difficult because it needed mental composure and toughness:

They were completely different matches. Against Djokovic, the challenge was much more mental. The conditions were different, it was much hotter, and I was also playing against someone I respect a lot. At first, maybe I respected him too much, and that showed in my game. Against Casper, I felt much more confident from the start. I was more aggressive, looked for shots decisively, and tried to take control of the points quickly.

Ruud certainly left the Court Philippe-Chatrier the most disappointed person as he played himself to defeat against Fonseca. The Norwegian star had the upper hand when he won the third set, but threw it away quickly with mistakes on his opening serve in the fourth set, which switched the momentum to Fonseca and the Brazilian teenager ran with it.

Joao Fonseca opens up on his struggles at the start of the season

Joao Fonseca reaching the quarter-finals of the French Open was a big doubt after the first month of the season. The Brazilian teenager earned only one win in January and February, as he was still recovering from a back problem. Things didn’t get better in March as he suffered early exits at the Sunshine Double.

It was not until the Monte Carlo Masters that he reached his first quarter-finals of the season before losing to Alexander Zverev. He backed it up with another last-eight run in Munich, but failed to pick a win at the Rome Masters. During the aforementioned press conference, the two-time ATP tour-level champion explained why he struggled at the start of the season:

I think the key has been the work. The preseason in December was very tough and helped me a lot. Australia is a good example of the situation I was in back then. I arrived with almost no match rhythm. I had been standing for thirteen days and had barely trained for two days before playing. Maybe it wasn’t the best decision to compete in those conditions, but it served as a learning experience.

Fonseca will take on Jakub Mensik in the quarter-finals of the French Open. Mensik defeated Andrey Rublev in five sets to earn his place in the last eight of the clay-court Grand Slam. Fonseca leads Mensik 1-0 in their head-to-head record on the court, but that meeting came at the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals.

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