Djokovic Exits, Too, Leaving Historically Unproven Paris Field
Read Djokovic's comments in Serbian after a loss to João Fonseca. Plus, more Oleksandra Oliynykova.
PARIS, France — The first full day of matches at the post-Sinner 2026 Men’s French Open sizzled with renewed relevance. Suddenly, everyone’s odds had improved. Every match in the draw mattered. With every remaining player’s chances and capabilities considerably more closely bunched together than the standalone Sinner had appeared, every match would ripple into the rest of the draw with real ramifications.
Of particular interest on Friday was the start of what friend of the show Ricky Dimon called “a massive tournament within a tournament”: the eighth of the draw made up of two full-strength third-round matches: No. 15 Casper Ruud vs. Tommy Paul, and No. 28 João Fonseca vs. No. 3 Novak Djokovic.
Any of the four of these guys would have been considered favorites to make the final if he were in the top half, most likely. Instead, they were clustered together in a tennis “Group of Death” to duke it out for one pivotal quarterfinal spot.
When the dust settled after two thrilling five-setters—captivating both in the stadiums and on side-by-side screens around the grounds—a pair of two-set leads had been lost in parallel. And Djokovic, the only man in the draw with even a single major title to his name, was out.
Djokovic had been one man with 24 major titles to himself. Without him, there are instead 24 men left heading into Saturday, with no major titles between them. It’s the first time in Grand Slam men’s singles history that there won’t be any former major champion in the Round of 16.
Djokovic, of course, was the lone, aging pillar on which this streak stood today, so this post will focus on him, including what’s become a popular recurring feature here: his post-loss remarks from the Serbian section of his, professionally human-translated into English.
“One thing remains true: anyone who faces me at a Grand Slam has to beat me. Nobody is going to get a match from me for free. That’s something I’ll always be proud of. One thing is certain: that fighting spirit, that warrior’s mentality, that wolf spirit I carry with me is always there. Even if I were playing on one leg, I wouldn’t give anything away.” -Novak Djokovic in Serbian
For the full Serbian remarks, and more on this pivotal day in Paris—plus looks ahead to the best Saturday matches and more on Oleksandra Oliynykova—please subscribe to Bounces (and while the 15 percent sale is still on!) -Ben
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