Zverev Meets Lucky Loser De Jong as 19-Year-Olds Thrive at Roland Garros

Zverev, face pressure as French Open reaches business end

Alexander Zverev faces Jesper de Jong, the only player left who lost a match. Three 19-year-olds including Joao Fonseca are still alive in Paris.  

Casper Ruud battles back from two sets down, then sets up a fourth-round tie with Joao Fonseca. The 19-year-old Brazilian called a 'special talent'...

Temperatures may dip on Sunday, but the stakes won’t. With the French Open into week two, the draw is thinner and the title is finally within reach, so the pressure only gets heavier.

The heatwave all week took its toll on the men’s draw. Jannik Sinner faded, then Novak Djokovic wilted - both lost brutal five-setters on back-to-back nights. Now there isn’t a single past Grand Slam champion left standing.

The crown is up for grabs. When the men’s final rolls around next Sunday, Roland Garros will have a new, sun-proof king of clay.

That leaves Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev. Both have made major finals three times and lost them all. Their job now is simple: block out the noise and focus only on whoever stands across the net on Sunday.

“It’s such an open tournament, which is kind of refreshing, I guess, for everyone, and to see that there will be a new Slam champion in about a week or so. I think every player is aware of it,” Ruud said in the early hours of Saturday morning. He’d just battled back from two sets down as the evening cooled to beat American Tommy Paul.

“Obviously Novak and Jannik was one of the two highest favourites,”the Norwegian added.

“It will be interesting to see where we are in a week's time. I'm going to try to use the experiences that I've had of reaching far in Slams to my advantage and see where that takes me, but you focus one match at a time.“

  

Ruud’s next opponent is Joao Fonseca, the teenager who knocked out Djokovic. The 15th seed called Fonseca a “special talent.”

For 19-year-old Brazilian Fonseca, this stage of Roland Garros is completely new territory.

“That was my first fourth round in my career,” he said after his win.

“I’m just thinking about my next match,” he insisted. He stayed too modest to call himself a contender outright, but he did drop enough hints that bigger ambitions might be running through his mind.

“Of course, Jannik and Djokovic out, there's more chances for the guys that are more time on tour, like Sascha (Zverev), Casper, or whatever.”

Zverev is now the top seed left in the men’s draw at world No. 2. He faces Jesper de Jong, who’s spent more time on court than anyone else - 21 sets already at Roland Garros.

De Jong is also the only player still in the tournament who’s lost a match. The Dutchman went out in the final round of qualifying but got into the main draw as a lucky loser after French No. 1 Arthur Fils pulled out injured.

De Jong had never gotten past round two at a Slam before, but he said the draw hadn’t done him any favors - he kept running into top players like German Zverev.

After the Dutchman came back to beat 13th seed Karen Khachanov in the third round, he credited his fifth-set “toilet break, that was the key.”

Now his reward is a fourth-round clash with Zverev.

“It’s better in the fourth round than in the second round,” he said.

  

In a tournament where the young players are making noise, Fonseca is just one of three 19-year-olds still alive.

75.2 - Among players with 20+ Grand Slam matches over that span, Alexander Zverev (75.2%, 121-40) holds the best win rate in the Open Era of any player not to have won a Grand Slam event. Expectation.#RolandGarros | @rolandgarros @atptour pic.twitter.com/zGnmpSCZXX

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) May 29, 2026

Next-Gen vs Experience at Roland Garros

Spanish phenom Rafael Jodar, already inside the top 30 like Fonseca, goes up against unseeded 34-year-old countryman Pablo Carreno Busta.

Women’s eighth seed Mirra Andreeva faces Swiss veteran Jil Teichmann. At 28, Teichmann looks reborn after time away, saying she spent the break “recharging my batteries.”

The women’s draw still has plenty of former champions left, even after defending winner Coco Gauff exited on Saturday.

Second week action starts tomorrow at Roland-Garros 🍿

Full Sunday's order of play on https://t.co/wvNRC5UQgb.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/DPPOmw8QEC

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2026

Birthday Test for Swiatek as Svitolina Chases Another Last Eight

Iga Swiatek steps on court Sunday on her 25th birthday. The Polish third seed already has one Wimbledon and one US Open title, plus four Roland Garros crowns - the last three back-to-back - before Aryna Sabalenka stopped her streak in last year’s semis.

She runs into 15th seed Marta Kostyuk from Ukraine.

Ukraine’s top-ranked player, seventh seed Elina Svitolina, is trying to equal her best Paris run and make a sixth quarter-final. She’s up against another Swiss veteran in 11th seed Belinda Bencic, who at 29 is reaching the French Open fourth round for the first time in her career.