Novak Djokovic: Is French Open defeat clearest sign Father Time is catching up?

Instead, he now needs to reset and recharge so he can go to Wimbledon again next month.

Djokovic will always try his luck at the All England Club, given that he is a seven-time champion on grass, which young players struggle to master.

It cannot be ruled out that Djokovic will become the oldest men’s singles major champion of all time, but Father Time has been sitting on Djokovic’s shoulder waiting for a long time.

By rights, he should probably be basking in a post-retirement glow by now.

Maybe coaching a young compatriot like Andy Murray away from the public gaze. Maybe we’re doing a promotional tour for a new Netflix documentary like Rafael Nadal.

While his longtime rivals were moving on to the next phase of their lives, Djokovic was retching on the sidelines of the court trying to muster the energy needed to beat a youngster.

The fact that he still wants to push himself so hard against much younger opponents is a testament to his superpower.

As we’ve seen time and time again, Djokovic’s insatiable appetite for the sport’s biggest prizes will never wane.

But the fact that he has reached at least the semi-finals in the last five Grand Slams was the clearest sign that the aging process was finally catching up with him.

Djokovic looked in complete control as he went two sets ahead, but could not keep his level as Fonseca proved to be a real player.

Djokovic smiled: “It would be nice if it was the best of three.”

“To be honest, I ran out of gas. I didn’t feel good on the court at all for the next few sets.”

Djokovic has always excelled in the best-of-five format among the majors, beating just about everyone in his path for almost two years now.

The only exceptions were Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and the knee injury that forced him to withdraw against Alexander Zverev at last year’s Australian Open.

Not everyone else was good enough or had the mentality to see off the experienced Djokovic.