Novak Djokovic stormed into the history books as he trounced Casper Ruud in straight sets to clinch the French Open title on Sunday (June 11). With this triumph, Djokovic has busted Rafael Nadal's all-time record as he won his 23rd Grand Slam title. Notably, this was Djokovic's third French Open title. The ace tennis player thumped Norwegian Casper Ruud with a scoreline of 7-6 (1), 6-3, 7-5 in Sunday’s final at Roland Garros.
Djokovic didn't get off to a great start unlike Ruud who displayed an impressive show initially. The ‘Djokosmash’ – the one notorious weakness in his otherwise complete game – made far too many appearances as he missed numerous overheads. Ruud quickly took an early 3-0 lead.
The benefit of being Novak Djokovic, though, is that he always has options. Djokovic dug in and he relied on his legs as he soaked up a series of stinging Ruud forehands before drawing out an overhead error from Ruud to retrieve the break.
But Ruud persisted and continued his fightback. He took everyone by surprise when he led 5-4 with Djokovic serving. Ruud opened the game with some inspirational play, including a successful tweener lob to lead 0-30. But at 5-4, 30-30, Ruud gifted a forehand error on an easy second serve return. Sensing Ruud’s nerves, Djokovic pounced. He held serve, he forced a tiebreak and then he picked Ruud’s weak backhand apart to take the set.
By the second set, the Serb’s nerves had evaporated as the weight of the task ahead of Ruud became clear. Djokovic dictated from inside the baseline, pulverising his forehand, and he continued to methodically break down Ruud’s backhand as he neutralised the Norwegian’s serve. Djokovic controlled the contest until the end, patiently waiting for his moment to clinch the decisive break late in the third set before closing out one of the greatest successes of his career.
The 36-year-old from Serbia also broke Nadal’s record as the oldest French Open singles champion. He became the first man to win all four tennis majors at least three times, joining three women who did so (Serena Williams, Steffi Graf and Margaret Court).
Djokovic had NFL great Tom Brady in his player box, while Kylian Mbappe and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were also in the crowd, and they witnessed Djokovic claw his way back, breaking in the seventh game after a punishing rally that ended with Ruud netting an overhead.
“Many congrats on this amazing achievement,” Nadal tweeted after the match. “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!”
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