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French Open 2026: Djokovic and Fonseca go to decider, Rublev and Swiatek win – live | French Open 2026
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Final set: Fonseca *4-5 Djokovic (*next server; 2-2 in sets) At 40-15 down, Fonseca beams perhaps his hardest forehand winner yet. Djokovic is too tired to even be annoyed – but wins the next rally with a clinical shot down the line.
Final set: Fonseca 4-4* Djokovic (*next server; 2-2 in sets) Fonseca clatters through another hold, with Djokovic saving his legs. He’s very much the wobbling prize fighter out there, clinging to his belt.
Here’s a stat for you: Djokovic’s record in best-of-five matches after winning the first two sets is 301-1. His only defeat from 2-0 up came against Jürgen Melzer at the 2010 French Open, when João Fonseca was three years old.
Final set: Fonseca *3-4 Djokovic (*next server; 2-2 in sets) This is just ridiculous. Having dug out a game point, Djokovic has to withstand everything his young opponent can throw at him, before clipping a winner into an empty corner as Fonseca charges the net.
Final set: Fonseca *3-3 Djokovic (*next server; 2-2 in sets) Fonseca wins the first point with an overhead smash, but Djokovic gets back in the game by getting the better of a brief net battle. At 30-all, second serve, Djokovic gets it done – but Fonseca wins a brutal rally to take this game to deuce. The winner count: Djokovic 64-56 Fonseca.
Final set: Fonseca 3-3* Djokovic (*next server; 2-2 in sets) Fonseca rattles through his service game, holding to love, and Djokovic looks to be struggling with his movement. We’ve said that before, of course.
Jakub Mensik (26) beats Alex De Minaur (8) 0-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3
Mensik gets the job done, completing the comeback after losing the first set 6-0. There are now just three single-digit seeds left in the men’s draw: Alexander Zverev, Félix Auger-Aliassime, and Djokovic.
Final set: Fonseca *2-3 Djokovic (*next server; 2-2 in sets) Can João Fonseca get off the canvas again? Well, he leads 15-30, and sets up two break points when a weary Djokovic nets. The first is rescued with an ace, but Fonseca prevails in the next rally, and breaks straight back!
Both before and after that game, Djokovic stopped next to the towel bin, and looked like he was about to throw up. In between, an absolutely unplayable return game, breaking to love. A reminder – he is almost 20 years older than his opponent across the net.
Final set: Fonseca 1-3* Djokovic (*next server; 2-2 in sets) This is the kind of moment that prime Djokovic would pounce on (although prime Djokovic wouldn’t be in a fifth set). Can he do it again? He punishes an underhit volley, steering his forehand home to lead 0-30, and Fonseca’s slice then drifts a fraction long. Three break points … sealed with an outrageous chop/drop shot at the net!
Final set: Fonseca *1-2 Djokovic (*next server; 2-2 in sets) Djokovic responds in kind, holding to 15. It feels like both players are easing off the gas after such an intense fourth set.
Final set: Fonseca 1-1* Djokovic (*next server; 2-2 in sets) João Fonseca holds to love, showing no signs of nerves or fatigue.
Jesper de Jong, who I may have called Jasper earlier, couldn’t close out the upset against Khachanov, who dominates the fourth-set breaker to take their match to a decider. Jakub Mensik, meanwhile, leads 4-2 in the fourth and is about to turf Alex De Minaur out of the tournament.
Final set: Fonseca *0-1 Djokovic (*next server; 2-2 in sets) Djokovic was off court for nearly 10 minutes, and can’t remember which side of the net to go to when he comes back. He’s a bit frazzled, but there’s no sign of that once play resumed, a lovely slice just dropping beyond Fonseca.
Casper Ruud or Tommy Paul will face the winner of this match in the last 16, the lucky devils. Paul still leads by one set to love, and we’re on serve at 5-4 to Ruud in the second.
It looks like Djokovic is heading off court, potentially taking a medical timeout. What a battle he’s in here, after winning the first two sets.
Fonseca levels at two sets all! Djokovic goes 15-30 up, but Fonseca wins another full-throttle point, and backs it up with an awkward volley that has enough behind it. Set point – and Djokovic’s return goes long!
Updates! Mensik leads De Minaur 2-1 and has a break in the fourth … Ruud and Paul are on serve in the second set … and De Jong was a break up in the fourth against Khachanov, but we’re now back on serve.
Ole, ole, ole, João … the crowd are getting more and more behind the youngster, to Djokovic’s chagrin. Fonseca edges 15-30 up but his opponent slams the door with a vicious overhead smash. No matter – he digs out another break point and has too much power for Djokovic, ripping a winner into the corner to go 6-5 up. He’ll serve for the fourth set …
Many, many players have folded in this situation, but Fonseca doesn’t – he keeps his first serve on target, and holds when Djokovic shanks a return wide. Five-all in the fourth; Djokovic leads two sets to one.
Fonseca dictates the first two points of serve, moving 30-0 up. Pressure off? Of course not, as Djokovic immediately punishes a couple of lapses on serve. He then goes after Fonseca’s backhand side, and sees a 40th winner whip past him. A canny drop shot gets Djokovic back to deuce, and two points from victory …
Djokovic lands a ridiculous swerving shot down the line, but offers up a hand to Fonseca, suggesting it wasn’t what he intended. He’s hanging on, and holds to lead 5-4 in the fourth.
There was an odd moment after one point in that game, when Djokovic turned to the crowd and appeared to complain about a crying infant. Come on, Novak – don’t have a go at the bébé.
Incredible guts from Fonseca there, teetering on the brink of defeat but still playing aggressively. He continues in that vein here, claiming a break point but then sending a backhand into the tape of the net. The Brazilian fires in another angled winner that leaves Djokovic on his heels, but can only look and laugh at a ferocious ace down the middle.
Pressure on Fonseca at 15-30 down, and Djokovic is finding all the angles now, controlling the next point to earn two break points. Fonseca risks a trip to the net to save the first – then finds a huge second serve! He dominates the next two points, and urges the Brazilian fans in the house to make some noise.
Djokovic holds with little fuss, an attempted lob from Fonseca causing him brief concern before dropping a few inches beyond the baseline.
Elsewhere, Mensik has maintained his momentum against De Minaur, and leads the third set 4-0. In a battle of dark horses, Tommy Paul has claimed the first set 6-4 against Casper Ruud.
Any nerves from Fonseca? Nah, just a sliced cross-court winner to open the game. Djokovic retaliates with a vicious return, but it’s smooth enough sailing for Fonseca from there. Three-all in the fourth set.
Djokovic seems to be rediscovering his groove, powering through another service game with Fonseca sending one errant shot high into the stands. A big game coming up next, as the teenager tries to stay on terms …
Djokovic hustles through a hold, and from 30-love down on Fonseca’s serve, he turns up the pressure and forces a couple of loose points. At break point, Djokovic steps in on second serve and Fonseca can only find the net. We’re back on serve in the fourth set …
On Court 14, De Jong – a “lucky loser” who grabbed a place in the draw when Arthur Fils withdrew – leads Khachanov by two sets to one. The Dutchman won the set 6-2, the same score by which Jakub Mensik has taken the second set against De Minaur on Court Simonne-Mathieu.
Fonseca backs up the break with a clinical backhand down the line, and he’s in charge of the fourth set. Djokovic still leads 2-1, but his opponent is the better player right now.
On Lenglen, Casper Ruud – a two-time finalist here, losing to Rafa Nadal in 2022 and Djokovic in 2023 – is a break down to Tommy Paul in the first set.
Elsewhere, Jesper de Jong has carved out a 5-2 lead in the third set against Karen Khachanov, while Jakub Mensik leads Alex De Minaur 4-2 in the second after getting bageled in the first.
Fonseca won’t go away, though, pounding a forehand winner to earn another break. Djokovic has slowed down his serve – in fact, he gets a warning here, and when the point does get under way, Djokovic goes long. Fonseca breaks!
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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