Novak Djokovic wins French Open final to eclipse Rafael Nadal with record-breaking 23rd grand slam

ROLAND GARROS — Novak Djokovic became the most successful player in the history of men’s tennis as he beat Casper Ruud 7-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the French Open final to win his 23rd grand slam title, pulling clear of Rafael Nadal.

The Serb is now halfway to another achievement Nadal has never reached, the calendar year Grand Slam, having won in Australia back in February and now here in Paris.

Djokovic also became the oldest French Open champion of all-time, pipping last year’s champion Nadal by 18 days as well as eclipsing his grand slam total.

“Many congrats on this amazing achievement,” Nadal wrote on Twitter.

“23 is a number that just a few years back was impossible to think about, and you made it! Enjoy it with your family and team!”

The man Nadal beat last year, Ruud, was playing his third grand slam final in 12 months and did pick up an early break to lead 3-0 in the opening set.

But it was as close as the Norwegian ever got to winning a set, something he has now failed to do on five consecutive occasions against Djokovic.

“I am beyond fortunate in my life to win 23 times grand slams,” Djokovic said.

“It’s an incredible, incredible feeling.”

He added: “I was a seven-year-old dreaming that I could win Wimbledon and become No 1 in the world one day. I’m beyond grateful and blessed to be standing here with so many incredible achievements.

“But one thing is for sure: I feel that I have I had the power to create my own destiny. I try to visualise every single thing in my life. Not only believe it but really feel it with every every cell in my body.

“And I just want to send a message out there to every young person. Be in the present moment. Forget about what happened in the past, future is something that is just going to happen.

“But if you want a better future, you create it. Take the means in your hands, believe it, create it.”

The Serb was far from flawless and having admitted that the two competitive sets before Carlos Alcaraz succumbed to cramp in the semi-final had him struggling physically, he once again looked short of energy in sweltering conditions with humidity above 70 per cent.

Uncharacteristically, he hit 12 unforced errors in the opening three games while Ruud appeared far more settled, especially compared to 12 months ago when he looked in awe of Nadal’s command of Philippe Chatrier.

Djokovic has a more tempestuous relationship with the Parisians, describing some individuals as “disrespectful” in their behaviour, and they did interrupt proceedings on several occasions in the early stages, but might more accurately be described as excitable than disrespectful. But however supportive the mistimed cries of “idemo” (Serbian for “come on”) or its French equivalent “allez”, they were enough to disrupt Djokovic, who was distinctly irritable for the first hour of the match.

“For God’s sake we’re playing best of five. Why are you rushing?” he said at one point, rebuking umpire Damien Dumusois for starting the clock for the sit-down too early.

His struggles were forgotten however when he reached the tie-break. In the course of this tournament, he has become the most successful tie-break player in the history of the men’s professional tour, breaking Roger Federer’s record. This was his fifth breaker, and he had not made a single unforced error in the course of the previous four.

Sure enough, Djokovic kicked into a different gear and did not make a single mistake, winning seven of the eight points in the crucial tie-break to seal a set that was eventually clocked at 90 minutes (which included both players taking seven minutes off court afterwards).

The realisation that he would have to do that three more times, at least, to win the match was perhaps too big a mental obstacle for Ruud to overcome. The humidity and temperature was relentless and Djokovic’s hitting only became more intense. His forehand, so errant in the first set, became a weapon again.

For all Djokovic’s frustrated screaming in the direction of Tom Brady, the American football great sitting in his box next to Djokovic’s wife Jelena and daughter Tara, he was in front and comfortable, or as comfortable as anyone could be in the stickiness of the Parisian afternoon.

There was an air of inevitability to the rest of the match. The raucous crowd was quietened, saving their roar for the moment of victory, rather than the stream of winners that were so numerous as to seem routine. He hit more than 20 in a stupendous third set.

This is what Djokovic, Nadal and Federer have done to tennis. They have made the impossible not just seem possible, but seem utterly normal. Even the melodrama of Djokovic’s fall behind the baseline or arguments with the umpire fool no one any more. On the biggest stage, the only thing that matters is the score, and it almost always ends with him winning.

Djokovic has won a third of the majors he has entered. By that ratio, he has a one in nine chance of competing the calendar year grand slam by winning Wimbledon and the US Open. In doing so, he will have surpassed Nadal, Serena and Court in consecutive grand slams.

GOAT debate? It’s an increasingly one-sided conversation these days.