When Jannik Sinner crashed out of the French Open in shocking fashion on Thursday afternoon, the door appeared to be ajar for Novak Djokovic.

The Serbian’s chase for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title has been on hold since he won the 2024 US Open, with Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz dominating the winner’s list at the four major tournaments since then.

Djokovic has been beaten by Sinner and Alcaraz consistently in Grand Slam tournaments since then and he was waiting for a moment when the door to another major title would not be slammed by the new ‘Big 2’ in men’s tennis.

This, it seemed, was the moment after Alcaraz was unable to defend his title due ot injury and Sinner was down by his biggest rival, as he was overwhelmed by the Paris heat.

As Djokovic took to the court for his third round contest against Jaoa Fonseca, he had that glint in his eyes that suggested he was in a zone that makes him almost impossible to beat.

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When he took the first two sets against Fonseca, the 24-time Grand Slam-winning legend appeared to be moving into Grand Slam-winning mode.

Yet this is a 39-year-old Djokovic and that clearly played a role in Fonseca’s remarkable comeback.

The Brazilian wonderkid has been hyped up as the next big thing in the men’s game for the last couple of years, but he needed his Grand Slam moment to confirm he was the real deal and this was it.

As he roared back to seal a 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 win, sealing the biggest win of his career with three straight aces, Fonseca didn’t just cement his own status, but he may have killed off Djokovoic’s final chance to win a major.

“I actually didn’t believe I could win the match, I just played and enjoyed being in the court,” said Fonseca.

“What an idol we have and what a pleasure it was to step on the court against him so I thank him, I am very happy.

“I was just trying to hit the ball as fast as I could, I mean Djokovic doesn’t miss and we still think he’s 20.

“At the end of the match he was more fit than me which is crazy and when the day was getting darker, I felt much slower. In the beginning, I was struggling with the heat and not feeling good.

“I just believed I could do aces, it was crazy. I have never done that before I am super happy that I could finish like this.”

Djokovic will now have time to practice his grass court skills ahead of Wimbledon, where he believes he can finally crack that 25th Grand Slam title.

However, this felt like a moment when the greatest player of them all finally came up against a younger generation who have passed him by.

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