Back-to-back classics

With three-time Roland-Garros champion and countryman Gustavo Kuerten watching on, Fonseca surged into his first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal with a 7-5, 7-6(8), 5-7, 6-2 scoreline - the type of victory that adds an extra dimension to the lore around a "remember when?" match win, just like Fonseca's triumph over Djokovic. Because sometimes, a big win is written in the stars. Backing it up, like Fonseca did against Ruud, is the hard part. 

The two men had both entered the match battle-tested. In addition to his five-set success over Djokovic, Fonseca also came from two sets down to survive in the third round against Croatia's Dino Prizmic.

Ruud, meanwhile, also played a pair of five-setters in his first three rounds, against Roman Safiullin to begin his tournament and against Tommy Paul in the third, saving match points to beat the American.

And over nearly four hours, the two men wore each other out in another barnburner - but it was Fonseca and his fearsome forehand that claimed a second straight win over a player ranked above him to become the youngest of the five Brazilian men to ever reach the Roland-Garros quarterfinals in the Open era, and the first since his hero Kuerten in 2004.

They both hit 51 winners, landed more than 70 percent of their first serves, and played their best when defending break points. Fonseca saved seven of the nine he faced, and Ruud saved nine of 13 against him.

But the Brazilian built an early lead with the poise of a veteran. Emphatic holds kept him ahead for the duration of the opener, and he secured the decisive break in the final game. In the second set, he saved two break points at 3-3, and three at 5-5, before coming through in the tiebreak. 

“He’s very experienced," Fonseca said of Ruud. "He knows how to play here on this amazing court. He has two finals. It was tough in the beginning but I played really good in important moments in the first and second set. I’m very happy because of that.”

Having Kuerten, the last Brazilian man to win a Grand Slam tournament, watching Fonseca's watershed moment was a full circle, and it thrilled the teenager to rise to the occasion in front of him. The former world No.1, Fonseca said, also watched his first-ever Roland-Garros match in the boys' singles four years ago.

"He's an idol for our sport, for our country. For his charisma, for the way that he is, for how humble he is," Fonseca said in his on-court interview. "It's a pleasure to win against a very tough opponent in front of him."

In what's become something of a youth movement in the bottom half of the men's draw, Fonseca will face 20-year-old Jakub Mensik of Czechia in the final eight, while his fellow 19-year-old Rafael Jodar faces Alexander Zverev.

➡️ Men's singles draw