New blood: Jakub Mensik, Rafael Jodar, Joao Fonseca all attain French QFs

With Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic eliminated in earlier rounds, there’s room for a youth movement at the French Open.

No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany is the new favorite and advanced to the quarterfinals handily Sunday, but he was flanked by Jakub Mensik, Rafael Jodar and Joao Fonseca as all three youngsters extended their Grand Slam dreams with impressive victories in Paris.

Mensik, Jodar and Fonseca — the 26th, 27th and 28th seeds — are aged 20, 19 and 19, respectively.

Two days after stunning Djokovic, Brazilian phenom Fonseca felled Norwegian 15th seed Casper Ruud 7-5, 7-6 (8), 5-7, 6-2 in the fourth round. Ruud is a clay-court specialist and two-time finalist at Roland Garros.

“It was tough. Casper plays good here,” Fonseca said in his on-court interview. “He’s a very experienced guy and he knows how to play here in this amazing court. He has two finals, so it was tough in the beginning, but I played really good in the important moments in the first and second set. I was very happy because of that.”

Fonseca and Ruud had matching totals of 51 winners and 52 unforced errors, but Fonseca saved 7 of 9 break points while managing to break Ruud four times.

Neither Fonseca nor Mensik had reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal before Sunday, and now one of them is guaranteed to make their semifinal debut as they’re set to square off in the next round. Mensik, from the Czech Republic, also won in upset fashion as he outlasted Russian 11th seed Andrey Rublev 6-3, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 2-6, 6-3.

Mensik finished with a 69-45 edge in winners and survived committing 65 unforced errors to Rublev’s 36 in the three-hour, 45-minute affair.

Earlier in the day, Spanish rising star Jodar rallied from two sets down to oust veteran countryman Pablo Carreno Busta 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

Carreno Busta lost the first three games of the match, but steadied and won the final five of the first set to stun the youngster. He carried that momentum in the second set, sprinted to a 4-0 lead and hung on to take a two-set edge.

But Jodar would not face a break point in the final three sets. He won 38 of 47 (80.9%) of his first serves in that span. In the deciding set, the No. 27 seed broke the veteran at love in the fourth game and eventually won on his fifth match point of the eighth game.

“It’s difficult because he has a great backhand,” Jodar said after the match. “When we’re playing cross with the backhand, it’s difficult to change because he’s playing deep in the court. I tried not to rush the shots and not make a lot of unforced errors. I think that was the key in the first two sets, so I tried to change that.”

Jodar won his ATP-leading 19th match on clay this season.

He and Zverev will meet for the first time on Tuesday for a spot in the semifinals, after Zverev cruised past Dutchman Jesper de Jong 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-1.

Zverev has become the heavy favorite to win his first Grand Slam title. He lost two years ago to Carlos Alcaraz in the finals in Paris.

He fell behind de Jong 3-0 in the first set, but broke in the fifth game and held steady to send it to a tiebreaker. Zverev again fell behind 3-0 in the tiebreaker, but reeled off seven consecutive points to take all of the momentum into the rest of the match.

“In the beginning, it was a bit difficult,” Zverev said. “I didn’t start off strong and he started off really fast and really well. But once I found my rhythm, I felt very comfortable on the court and that’s the most important thing for me. I feel like my game is there, now it’s about showing it on the match court.”

Zverev struck 43 winners and committed only 26 errors.

–Field Level Media