French Open LIVE: Djokovic-conquering Fonseca takes on Czech starlet Mensik in night session blockbuster

Fonseca serves first. Mensik nets in their first exchange, before the Brazilian whips a looping serve out wide that the Czech cannot return.

Now Fonseca just about clips the line and Mensik cannot keep his forehand in the court. Huge ace down the T, and it’s a nice and simple hold to love for the 19-year-old.

30 seconds left of the warm-up and we’ve already had the first shout of “Come on Joao!”

Moments to go…

Chatrier is only about half full but those people already in their seats make more than their fair share noise as Fonseca walks out first. It seems there are a lot more Brazilians than Czechs in attendance…

After something of a delay from the scheduled 7.15pm start time, the atmosphere is building on Court Philippe-Chatrier and the players are about to emerge.

These two have only faced off once before, in the final of the ATP Next Gen event in 2024, a fast-four, heavily modified tournament.

Fonseca came out on top in five tight sets, so this one – a genuine best-of-five – could be a late one.

2025 Miami champion Jakub Mensik has also endured his fair share of epics this French Open, winning two lengthy five-setters – against Mariano Navone in the second round and coming back from two sets to love down against Andrey Rublev in the fourth round – to make the quarter-finals.

He beat wildcard Titouan Droguet in straight sets in the first round but has otherwise been made to work for it, and recovered from a 6-0 drubbing in the first set against Alex de Minaur to beat the eighth seed in four sets in the third round.

Brazilian 19-year-old Joao Fonseca has had a presence in this draw as destructive as his shotmaking, having seen off 24-time major winner and all-time legend Novak Djokovic in five thrilling sets in the third round.

He backed that up with a four-set win over two-time Roland-Garros finalist Casper Ruud in the fourth round to reach the last eight.

His earlier wins were over qualifier Luka Pavlovic in the first round and a five-set epic over Dino Prizmic – in which he came back from two sets to love down, the same as against Djokovic – to win.

The final match of today should be a thriller as two young starlets face off for a place in the semi-final.

Joao Fonseca takes on Jakub Mensik in the night session on Philippe Chatrier, which kicks off at 8.15pm local time (7.15pm BST).

Alexander Zverev does not care about reaching semi-finals. He wants the title.

“I want to keep going, of course. I want to be in the tournament, and I want to win the matches that are ahead of me, and that’s my goal, that’s my aim.

“I feel like today was a very tough test against a very good player, and I managed. I won, and of course I’m happy to be in the semi-finals, but for now, that’s it.

”He had a perfect rhythm in the first set, and I didn’t. My balls were very short, I was very defensive. Again, the conditions completely different, string intention different, the way the ball reacts off the ground was completely different, the ball was not bouncing as high, so a heavy top spin was not really beneficial. I had to flatten my shots out a little bit more.

“He was playing amazing. He outplayed me in the beginning of the first set. But I managed to come back. He played a little bit of a nervous game, when he served for it, and then, yeah, I took my chance as well, and after that it was, it was a good match for me.”

What a debut it’s been for Rafael Jodar. His second appearance at a grand slam and he only went and made the quarter-finals at the age of 19. He played some long matches, showed brilliant fight and grit, and will surely be back for lots more.