Latest / Bleacher Report / TNT Crew Reacts to João Fonseca's Upset Win vs. Novak Djokovic | Roland-Garros 2026

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TNT Crew Reacts to João Fonseca's Upset Win vs. Novak Djokovic | Roland-Garros 2026 · Bleacher Report

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: There are matches that transcend tennis. When two players reach
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: a level that's hard to comprehend. Each swing, each slide,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: each second leaves you at a loss for words. The
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Brazilian wonder Kim, with a forearm resembling.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: A firearm, went toe to toe.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: With tennis's most decorated champion two days ago. Fonseka called
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Novak the greatest. He said it would be an honor
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: just to face him. Tonight, he became the first teenager
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: ever to defeat him at a Grand Slam. On this
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: the clay that crowns Kings and Queen's Novak Djokovic didn't
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: pass the torch. Joal Fanseka took it a moment that
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: everyone here at Roland Garros will never forget, a moment
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: that announces Joal Fanseka to the world not as a
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: player on the rise, but as a player that has arrived.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: There is a buzz in the air.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Words are hanging right now and we are so honored
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: to welcome you here live on TNT, presented by Neary's
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: Adam Lefko, John Isnerse Sam Querry, Jeanie Bouchard and Coco Vandaway.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: I was hoping it would go to a.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Tie break, but to end on ace ace ace Fonseka incredible.
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  Speaker 3: And ending ace ace ace against arguably the greatest returner
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: the sport has ever seen. This match gave us everything.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: It was just twenty four hours ago where Cinner went down, Right,
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  Speaker 3: You thought we had a lot of drama yesterday. How
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: about this match today? Must get to your square. I've
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: never seen it this pack before in my entire life.
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: That match was amazing. I think the key was for
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: fans sake, going down two cents, he got the early
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: break in the third set, that was key. He got
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: up three zero. It sparked energy into him, It sparked
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: energy into his into the crowd, into the followers, and
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: that was kind of when the match started to turn
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: and became a little bit of a donfight.
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: Absolutely, I think you get the nail on the head Sam.
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: Him getting up early in the third was huge. He
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: got the crowd engaged, got him going. He started playing
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: so much better from that point forward. Sam, you said
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: before the match that he never loses confidence in his forehand.
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: He kept going after that shot, that's his signature shot,
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: and it paid off in the end.
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  Speaker 2: Also in that.
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: Fifth set, we saw the touch he showed with the
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: drop shot winners. But to end the match with three
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: straight aces again against Novak Djokovic, absolutely insane.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: And to hit three.
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  Speaker 4: Lines, yes, those were perfect serves from joofon Seka at the.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: End, Coco. This statistic is just staying with me right now.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: Two hundred and ninety times at a major Novak has
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: gone up two sets to love, two.
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  Speaker 2: Hundred and eighty nine of them he has won.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: This is just the second time that he has lost
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  Speaker 1: in that situation.
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  Speaker 2: It's insane.
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  Speaker 5: And there's so many things that can impress you about
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: jaoafon Seka tonight and probably more so in the future.
• 2:44
  Speaker 5: But really what stuck out to me was how he
• 2:47
  Speaker 5: controlled the crowd. Because when you control the crowd.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: And at such a.
• 2:50
  Speaker 5: Young age to knowing when your moments are against a legend,
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  Speaker 5: against the greatest of all time and his sport, in
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  Speaker 5: his division, you can troll the moment. And Joe von
• 3:01
  Speaker 5: Sika controlled the moment, and it really did let go
• 3:05
  Speaker 5: feel like a changing of the guard. It felt like
• 3:08
  Speaker 5: Roger Fetter against Pete Sampris two thousand and one Wimbledon
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  Speaker 5: Round of sixteen. I mean, were talking deja vu five
• 3:14
  Speaker 5: sets better gets it done. This is feeling like one
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  Speaker 5: of those moments of this might be a different moment
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  Speaker 5: of the sport and just huge for all of us.
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  Speaker 5: And I was just having a pleasure watching it.
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  Speaker 2: Before we get to the highlight, Jeanie, I just want
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  Speaker 2: your thoughts on what you just saw.
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  Speaker 6: I think we found a new superstar on the ATP Tour.
• 3:32
  Speaker 6: He is going to dominate men's tennis. The biggest thing
• 3:34
  Speaker 6: for me was his forehand. I mean that thing has
• 3:36
  Speaker 6: so much power. But not only that, he was able
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  Speaker 6: to keep Novak stuck behind the baseline.
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  Speaker 3: Wow.
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  Speaker 6: Draao Joao Joa held his forehand so well and he
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  Speaker 6: has obviously that huge inside out, but he can go
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  Speaker 6: both directions, and so Novak, one of the greatest movers
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  Speaker 6: of all time, is stuck at that baseline. How many
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  Speaker 6: times did we see him get wrong footed, not even
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  Speaker 6: close to the ball, and then he would push Novak back,
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  Speaker 6: mix it in with the drop shot. What he can
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  Speaker 6: do with four hend wing is so impressible.
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: I also think too, we have to give our flowers
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  Speaker 3: to Novak Djokovic. The man is thirty nine years old.
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  Speaker 3: That match was four hours and fifty three minutes. Wasn't cramping.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think he was battling to the end. He's
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  Speaker 3: played over fourteen hundred matches in his career. There's a
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  Speaker 3: lot of guys out here that are, you know, thirty seven,
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  Speaker 3: thirty eight years old, have had great careers and they've
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  Speaker 3: played seven or eight hundred matches. Let's not forget he's
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: played over fourteen hundred matches, so the amount of wear
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  Speaker 3: and tear on his body is almost double everyone else.
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  Speaker 2: And he almost played five hours and.
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  Speaker 4: Prior to that match, he was on court for six
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  Speaker 4: hours and thirty five minutes and two four set encounters.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely insane.
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  Speaker 1: What Novak Jokevich' is still doing, I'd argue equally insane.
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  Speaker 1: Jual Fonseka has never stepped on that court before tonight,
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  Speaker 1: and it short didn't look it.
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  Speaker 2: Let's get to the highlights. We start off. It was
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: all Novak.
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  Speaker 1: Early in this one, Sam and John Juau. We were
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  Speaker 1: expecting a strong Brazilian contingent. That did happen, but Novak
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: abill control this in sets one and two.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, he was right from the get go.
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  Speaker 4: Novaks in control, roke serve out of the gate and
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: held on there for the first set lead. He's actually
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: was up a double break in that first set, eventually
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  Speaker 4: got it done six to four.
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  Speaker 2: They had some great points.
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  Speaker 4: And now this during the second set, I mean then
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: is scorching hot out there, but Novak's still out there playing.
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  Speaker 2: So incredibly well.
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  Speaker 4: He played some of his best hitnis so far, for
• 5:17
  Speaker 4: sure at this tournament. In these two sets. You can
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: see how much it meant to him to take a
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: two set lead.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and early on I think John was a little nervous, right,
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: he lost his serve out of the gate, and we
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: mentioned it earlier. John, it was to get that break
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: early in the third set. That's what Tom tim, That's
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: what kind of brought him back into this match. And
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: that's when the serves.
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  Speaker 2: Started rapping up.
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: You can see there he used to take that third set,
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  Speaker 3: and he's fired up. It's almost like he had the
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  Speaker 3: belief at that point that he was able to hang
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  Speaker 3: with Novak Djokovic.
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  Speaker 4: Absolutely, And at this point, the afternoon is turning into
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: night here in Paris. The crowd is just so electric
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: and you can just imagine the adrenalin enforcing through these
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: two guys bodies out there, especially for fun's sake of
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  Speaker 4: having all the support he had out there, and the
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  Speaker 4: fifth set was back and forth, were breaks exchanged early,
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: but this was the game where Ja Fonseko would eventually
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  Speaker 4: seize control of the match and get up the break
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  Speaker 4: and get himself able to serve for it at six five.
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: And late in this fifth set too, it was fun
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: take a.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: Jokovic with the drops.
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: It was about three drop shots in that game to
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: get the break. And then how about this last game
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: match your break point for Novak ace out wide at
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  Speaker 3: one hundred and thirty seven miles an hour, second ace
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  Speaker 3: of the row.
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  Speaker 4: Up the tea and we had the leaning the lines
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  Speaker 4: on these days is the dust is flying off the
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  Speaker 4: line and then.
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  Speaker 3: Matt's point three in a row for the young Brazilian.
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  Speaker 1: Nineteen years old Joel Fonseka Novak Djokovic. Since Fanseka was
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  Speaker 1: born in August two thousand and six, Djokovic has made
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  Speaker 1: the quarterfinals or better in every single rolling Garos except
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: for one year. That year two thousand and nine, the
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: same year that Rafa Nadal was upset by Sodaly. It
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: makes you think, yesterday Janick Center falls, today no Bak
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  Speaker 1: Djokovic falls. That means there are no major champions left
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  Speaker 1: in the draw. There are only two players that ever
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  Speaker 1: made a major championship. It is wide open. A new
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  Speaker 1: king will be crowned. Fonseka after the match, soaking it.
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  Speaker 6: All in.
• 7:24
  Speaker 7: Congratulations. This is a unique moment, This is epic, this
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  Speaker 7: is historic. How come did you keep on believing that
• 7:34
  Speaker 7: you could win this match?
• 7:37
  Speaker 8: I actually didn't. I just I just played. I just
• 7:42
  Speaker 8: enjoyed being in court. And what a pleasure it was.
• 7:46
  Speaker 8: I mean, what I do we have and it's a pleasure.
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  Speaker 8: Just step you on the court against him, and yeah
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  Speaker 8: it's my first time back step you on court against him,
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  Speaker 8: so just thanking him and and yeah, just very happy.
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  Speaker 7: We definitely thank you and thanks Novak for what you
• 8:17
  Speaker 7: just showed today. But you started very early in the afternoon,
• 8:21
  Speaker 7: and the conditions they work quite fast, and then all
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  Speaker 7: of a sudden, you know, as the day went on,
• 8:27
  Speaker 7: it would become a little bit slower. I don't know
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  Speaker 7: if you felt better because you had a little bit
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  Speaker 7: more power and you can dictate a little bit more,
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  Speaker 7: even if you have to fight fight so much.
• 8:39
  Speaker 8: I I was not thinking about this. I was just
• 8:43
  Speaker 8: trying to hit the ball as fast as I could.
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  Speaker 8: I mean Djokovic is he just don't miss We still think.
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  Speaker 2: He's twenty, so.
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  Speaker 7: He's thirty nine amazing.
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  Speaker 8: I mean I think in there of the match, I
• 9:00
  Speaker 8: think he was more fit than me. It's crazy, and
• 9:05
  Speaker 8: but yeah, I felt when the when the day was
• 9:08
  Speaker 8: getting darker, I felt much lower. And for me it
• 9:13
  Speaker 8: was better because I could produce a little bit more
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  Speaker 8: power for sure. And in the beginning, I mean I
• 9:19
  Speaker 8: was still struggling a little bit of the heat because
• 9:22
  Speaker 8: the ball was like just uh, I touched the ball
• 9:26
  Speaker 8: and the ball goes. So I was not feeling very good.
• 9:29
  Speaker 8: And then after I felt better.
• 9:31
  Speaker 7: And to finish, you serve for the match and you
• 9:36
  Speaker 7: are breakpoint down and all of a sudden you hit
• 9:38
  Speaker 7: three aces in a row. Can you explain us your
• 9:42
  Speaker 7: legs how heavy they were or your heart how high
• 9:45
  Speaker 7: it was beeding.
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  Speaker 8: I guess I just believed I could do aces and
• 9:53
  Speaker 8: I felt like John is, but it was crazy. I
• 9:56
  Speaker 8: didn't know I never did that before and and uh,
• 10:00
  Speaker 8: and now I was just super happy that I could
• 10:02
  Speaker 8: finish like this.
• 10:03
  Speaker 7: Will let you enjoy your moment, midame famous Joa for
• 10:07
  Speaker 7: SECA call you fit well it was and two delamos.
• 10:21
  Speaker 8: Sorry, I need to say too, thinks first I need
• 10:26
  Speaker 8: to make my mom's day. Happy birthday, Mom, Thank you
• 10:29
  Speaker 8: very much and thank you very much all the Brazilian
• 10:39
  Speaker 8: crowded Brigondos Brasiliers.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: Sigis I canage.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: After one of the most incredible matches we've ever seen,
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  Speaker 1: where a new face takes on a whole new identity,
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  Speaker 1: he says, I felt like John is.
• 11:03
  Speaker 6: Boy.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I didn't think my name was going to get
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: mentioned in is much interview.
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: I've been at situation four, I've hit some aces on
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: match points, maybe not against the greatest tennis player all
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: time at a Grand Slam.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: Like shit time. So are you kidding me? Pretty humble,
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: nice guy. It's my new favorite player. And then it's
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: his mom's birthday? Are you kidding?
• 11:25
  Speaker 5: The guy can't lose. I mean he's number one child forever.
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: Beating Novak Djokovic on his mom's birthday. You can't top
• 11:32
  Speaker 5: that kind of gift.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: You were, like, what a perfect human being.
• 11:35
  Speaker 6: This man is becoming the world's most eligible bachelor, and.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: I think I think it's very interesting and important that
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: he talked to the Brazilian fans. This is someone that
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: was one in six against the top ten zero to
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: four this year, and the talk started to get to sure,
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: he's got the big Brazilian crowd, when is he going
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: to win the big match? And he had to address
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: the pressure of dealing with the Brazilian fans. That pressure
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: has now been released. Now it's the best young player
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: with the best strong fan base.
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: And look, the Brazilian crowd has been a big storyline
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: along with him over the last couple of years, and
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: he does such a good job of doing just what
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: we saw right addressing the Brazilian crowd. Even in Rome
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: this year, they were almost a little two rambutches, right,
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: and he mentioned, hey, let's be respectful. And so he
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: does such a good job of, you know, I guess,
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: almost being one with those Brazilian fans. He knows they're
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: all over the world, and he does such a good
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: job of engaging with them.
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: Absolutely, and we're just we're lucky to have a player
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: like this, this good in.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: Brazil that has such a big following.
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: The last time I think we saw a player possibly
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: this good was an absolute legend here at Roland Garros
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: and Google Quirt and these.
• 12:43
  Speaker 5: Are such cool moments to have this moment that you
• 12:46
  Speaker 5: share with your team. You could just see how much
• 12:48
  Speaker 5: it means to all these guys that have put their lives,
• 12:52
  Speaker 5: their whole dedication into this young man as he crying,
• 12:55
  Speaker 5: is crying because it is a moment that you dream
• 12:59
  Speaker 5: of your kid. I think all of us at this
• 13:01
  Speaker 5: table have had these feelings and moments of I'm beating
• 13:06
  Speaker 5: an idol, I'm beating a world number one, and.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: It is my goal that I've just accomplished.
• 13:13
  Speaker 6: It is so sweet to watch. I feel like we're
• 13:14
  Speaker 6: getting teary eyed here on the set, but he just
• 13:17
  Speaker 6: played like a champion.
• 13:18
  Speaker 5: But you got to get on the bike, and.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: He's still in the tournament. We got to get go.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: And speaking of the tournament, it truly is wide open.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: No Alcaaz, no Center. It makes you also ask the question,
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: was this Djokovic's last best chance at twenty five? Think
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: about some of the streaks that have come to a close.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: Novak was twenty nine and one in.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: The city in Paris.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: The only other loss was Center in the semifinals last year.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: He is now thirty five and four at Roland Garros.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: The only other losses were to Nadal and Sinner. He
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: is now eighty seven and four to players ranked outside
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: the top ten at Roland Garros. All of these numbers
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: feel so big or make believe one more? Look at
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: this man, Novak Djokovic, the most decorated player in tennis,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: saying goodbye.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: Is this for the last time? Will he be back again?
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: It was a match he undoubtedly will be proud of
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: being a part of, but of course he'd like to
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: have a different result. Roland Garos is wide open. We
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: have another match tonight. This wasn't even the prime time match.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: Could this have opened a door for Alex Sasha Zverev?
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: He will be next on court. One other note, go back.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: To two thousand and six, the last time we had
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: three teenagers at this part of the draw.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: That time it was Novak, Nadal and Monfiz.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Right now it is Fonseka, Hodar and Kwame who we
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: will see tomorrow.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Feels like a changing of the guard here on T
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: and T