Novak Djokovic. Image via: Reuters João Fonseca was asked a simple question at his Canadian Open press conference this week. Do you agree with Novak Djokovic‘s proposal to cut sets from six games to four? The 19-year-old Brazilian paused, smiled, and then said what everyone in the locker room was quietly thinking. He suggested the 39-year-old Djokovic, who has played five events in 2026 and survived multiple brutal five-setters, might have a very personal reason for wanting shorter matches. Fonseca did not need to spell it out.
What did João Fonseca say about Novak Djokovic’s four-game set proposal?
Novak Djokovic floated the idea during a recent appearance at Fanatics Fest, telling fans and media that tennis needs a new scoring system. His proposal: reduce sets to four games, scrap the advantage rule at deuce, and use a single deciding point at 40-40 to keep things moving. His reasoning was that matches should not run longer than two hours.”Matches would be played until someone wins three such shortened sets. That way, matches would not last longer than two hours, which, in my opinion, is best for everyone,” Djokovic said.The tennis world did not exactly rush to agree. And Fonseca, the very player who knocked Djokovic out of Roland Garros in a punishing four-hour, 53-minute five-setter back in May, offered the most pointed response of anyone.”Well, I had a good time playing 4 games, 4-game sets, in the Next Gen. So I can’t complain about it. But I think he’s saying that because of his physique, you know. He’s getting older. Well, that’s what I can say,” Fonseca said, barely suppressing a grin.It was a jab wrapped in courtesy. Fonseca acknowledged the four-game format from personal experience, having won the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals under similar experimental rules. But the framing mattered. He was not criticising the format. He was questioning the motive behind it.The timing of Djokovic’s comments is hard to ignore. The Serb has played just five tournaments this season, three of which were Grand Slams. At the Australian Open, he reached his 11th final, where he was beaten in four sets by Carlos Alcaraz. At Wimbledon, he edged a five-hour, 15-minute quarterfinal against Felix Auger-Aliassime, only to lose to Sinner in the semis. His body has been through the mill.
Does Novak Djokovic’s age explain his push to change tennis scoring?
That is the question Fonseca essentially raised without fully answering. And it is a fair one. Tennis scoring has remained largely unchanged for about 500 years. Djokovic is not the first to argue for a shake-up, and he will not be the last. But there is a difference between pushing for change because the sport demands it and pushing for change because your knees do.Fonseca was careful not to fully dismiss the idea. He said the six-game set is part of the sport’s identity.”I mean, I don’t say bad things or good things, but I know it’s more about the classic tennis, the history of tennis, and the tennis being six games during the sets; it’s important. I think it’s classic tennis. It’s the history of tennis. So, yeah. But I can’t complain because I had good results with it,” he said.There is a generational undercurrent here. The players pushing back on Djokovic’s idea are mostly younger, the same group who spent years building careers on the premise that Grand Slam tennis rewards endurance. Fonseca is currently ranked 26th in the world and has already beaten Djokovic and Tsitsipas in the same stretch. He is not worried about two-hour matches. He is still building his engine.Novak Djokovic will resume his season at the Cincinnati Open next week, still chasing a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title. Whether or not anyone acts on his scoring ideas, one thing is now clear: the man who holds more major titles than anyone alive is starting to feel the weight of the game he helped define. Fonseca noticed. And said so.