Joao Fonseca Takes Cheeky Dig at Novak Djokovic’s Age Over Shorter Match Proposal: “He Is Getting Older”

Novak Djokovic believes tennis needs to have a complete overhaul of its scoring system. He said that instead of six games in a set, there should be four games without the advantage rule, and that the matches should end within two hours.

Former WTA World No.1 Kim Clijsters doesn’t share his opinions because she is “old school” and doesn’t want to see major changes. And now Joao Fonseca has given his verdict regarding the same following his win over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the opening round of the ongoing Canadian Open. Fonseca joked that Djokovic came up with this proposal because he has reached the twilight of his career.

I really enjoyed playing four-game matches, four-game sets at the Next Gen tournament (won in 2024). So I can’t complain. But I think he says that because of his physique (laughs). He’s getting older. Well, that’s all I can say. I say neither good nor bad, but I know it’s more about traditional tennis, the history of tennis, and the fact that sets are played in six games is important.

Joao Fonseca said at the press conference

The former World No.1 lost a five-set thriller at the hands of the Brazilian ace during the third round of this year’s French Open. The Serb failed to capitalize on his two-set lead.

I think that’s classic tennis. It’s the history of tennis. So, yes. But I can’t complain, because I’ve had good results thanks to that format.

Joao Fonseca added

At Wimbledon as well, the 24-time Grand Slam champion played a marathon thriller in the quarterfinal against Felix Auger-Aliassime. The match did not end before five hours and 15 minutes, also the longest quarterfinal in the history of Wimbledon. He then lost the semifinal easily in straight sets at the hands of eventual champion Jannik Sinner.

Djokovic, who last played a match at the Canadian Open back in 2018, withdrew from the tournament this season as well. Nole, however, has confirmed his participation at the Cincinnati Masters, where he last played a match in the final in 2023.

Joao Fonseca credits mental toughness after his win over Stefanos Tsitsipas

Joao Fonseca made his Canadian Open debut last year and suffered an opening-round exit. But this time, thanks to his ranking, he is the 22nd seed and received the first-round bye. Fonseca, with his 7-6(3), 7-5 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas, has improved his head-to-head record over the Greek ace to 2-0 as they also met in last year’s Davis Cup.

This year, playing with the big [guys]. I’ve played with [Jannik] Sinner, [Carlos] Alcaraz, [Alexander] Zverev, [Ben] Shelton and [Novak] Djokovic, so I’ve had a lot of experience. This has helped me a lot figuring out how much my mental strength is one of my biggest weapons. That I can be as confident as this… These experiences that I’ve had in these two years [has been] really important for my development.

Joao Fonseca said during his on-court interview

Fonseca has a huge challenge in front of him in the form of three-time Grand Slam runner-up Casper Ruud. The Norwegian ace trails 0-1 in the head-to-head matchups, having lost their previous meeting in the fourth round of this year’s Roland Garros.

The only time Fonseca has reached a Masters 1000 quarterfinal was on his Monte-Carlo Masters debut this year. He has won two tour-level titles so far, both last year, at the Argentina Open and the Swiss Indoors. Ruud, prior to scheduling the match against Fonseca, breezed past Juan Manuel Cerundolo. He is a one-time semifinalist at the Canadian Open, reaching the stage in 2022.

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