Chaos in Paris: first time since 1968 without a giant in the last 16
Roland Garros reached the last 16 of the men's draw without a single former Grand Slam champion for the first time in the professional era.
- For the first time since 1968, no former Grand Slam champion is in the men's last 16
- Sinner went out in the second round after leading two sets to love
- Djokovic was eliminated by 19-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca
- Alcaraz, the defending champion, missed the tournament through injury
On Court Philippe Chatrier on Wednesday night, nobody quite knew where to look. The stands were roaring for half a century of history slipping away, while out on the clay a 19-year-old named Joao Fonseca bounced around as if he had just won the title rather than merely reached the last 16.
The five-setter against Novak Djokovic lasted more than four hours. When the final ball dropped, Paris had something it had not seen in fifty years. The men’s draw was left without a single player who had ever lifted a Grand Slam trophy.
How did the draw lose every giant?
The avalanche started early. Top seed Jannik Sinner crashed out in the second round to the world number 56, Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo, and he did it after leading two sets to love. A medical timeout flipped the match on its head and the Italian was packing his bags earlier than anyone expected.
Then came the blow that sealed the story. Carlos Alcaraz, last season’s defending champion, never appeared in Paris at all because of injury. Without him and without Sinner, the entire weight fell on Djokovic.
The Serb could not carry it. Fonseca beat him 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5, completing a comeback that began from a hopeless position. It was Djokovic’s earliest exit in Paris since 2009.
What does this result mean for the tournament?
The numbers are merciless. For the first time since 1968, when tennis entered its professional era, no former Grand Slam champion has reached the last 16 of the men’s singles. Half a century of history collapsed in a single week.
Djokovic did not duck the truth afterwards.
He was the better player at the important moments in the fourth and fifth sets.
On the other side of the net stood a teenager who still cannot fully grasp what he has done. After the win, Fonseca could barely string his words together.
I was just playing, I was just enjoying, what a pleasure it was.
A fresh test now awaits him. On Sunday, May 31, on that same Court Philippe Chatrier, the Brazilian plays his last-16 tie against Norway’s Casper Ruud, a former finalist at this tournament. The door is wide open for a new name on the winners’ list.
Will Roland Garros crown a brand new champion this year, or will experience have the final say after all?
