João Fonseca Faces Next Gen Clash at Roland Garros Against Croatian Clay-Court Specialist: Match Time and Where to Watch

Brazilian tennis fans quickly noticed the Roland Garros draw because João Fonseca, one of the tournament’s seeded players, could meet Novak Djokovic in the third round of the French Open. But that potential blockbuster is far from guaranteed. Before reaching that stage, Fonseca must first get through a “Next Gen” clash on Wednesday against Croatian teenager Dino Prižmić, a rising talent who has already shown he can trouble elite players on clay. The match is expected to begin in the early afternoon as the third match on Court 14 and will be broadcast on ESPN 2 and Disney Plus.

Prižmić, ranked inside the world’s top 80 and only 20 years old, first drew major attention in 2024. At the start of the season, the qualifier took a set off Djokovic at the Australian Open, in a match lasting nearly four hours and becoming the Serbian star’s longest Grand Slam debut. Later that year, Prižmić went on to win the Roland Garros junior title, while Fonseca had already claimed the same junior-level honor at the 2023 US Open.

A series of injuries slowed Prižmić’s progress and temporarily raised doubts about how quickly he could fulfill his potential. However, he returned strongly in 2025. The Croatian reached five Challenger finals, won two titles, qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals, advanced to the quarterfinals in the ATP 250 event in Umag, and climbed steadily in the rankings to move close to the top 100.

His biggest statement this season came again against Djokovic. In the second round of the Rome Masters 1000 earlier this month, Prižmić rallied from a set down to beat the Serbian legend and later reached the round of 16. The result reinforced his growing reputation as one of the most dangerous young players on clay.

Before that breakthrough in Rome, Prižmić had already offered strong evidence of his clay-court ability. In Madrid, he defeated Matteo Berrettini and Ben Shelton, two established names on the ATP Tour. He also competed at the Rio Open in February, where he came through qualifying but was eliminated in the first round by Italy’s Francesco Passaro.

For Fonseca, the draw sets up a challenging path, but also a possible route into one of the tournament’s most watched storylines: a future meeting with Djokovic. First, though, he must navigate one of the game’s most promising young opponents in Prižmić, whose recent results suggest he is fully capable of turning the matchup into a high-stakes test on the Paris clay.