Djokovic Leaves The Door Open On Goodbye: "Will I Return To Paris? I Don't Know"

Novak Djokovic was eliminated in the third round of Roland Garros 2026, beaten on Friday, May 29 by 19-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca by a score of 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 after four hours and fifty-three minutes. In the press conference, when asked whether he will play in Paris in 2027, he answered with three words: "I don't know".

The answer came dry, then repeated when another reporter asked him if the loss to Fonseca could be his last match on the clay of Paris. Same response: "I don't know". On the match itself, Djokovic simply gave credit to his opponent: "The level he played at was extraordinary". He added that he didn't think he had "made big mistakes", and that he lost simply because Fonseca "played in an extraordinary way".

It's the second time in his career that the Serb has lost a match from two sets up, and the first time it had happened was also at Roland Garros, against Jurgen Melzer in 2010. The defeat is his earliest exit in Paris since 2009, and comes against the first teenager ever to beat him at a Slam: before Fonseca, Djokovic was 18-0 in his career against opponents under twenty years old.

On a definitive goodbye to Paris, Djokovic did not commit beyond the "I don't know", adding no references to retirement or to his next goals for the season. A door left ajar by a player who has won three times in Paris and who, at 39, refuses to call this one the last.