Novak Djokovic stands alone at the pinnacle of men’s tennis after defeating Casper Ruud to claim an historic 23rd Grand Slam title at the French Open on Sunday.
Djokovic’s 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 7-5 victory over Ruud draws him level with Serena Williams and he could equal Margaret Court’s all-time singles mark at Wimbledon next month.
The Serbian, meanwhile, also becomes the first man ever to win at least three Grand Slam titles at all the major tournaments – a measure of his all-round greatness.
Djokovic lay flat on his back on the clay before climbing up to his player box to hug all his team, including his children, Stefan and Tara.
A message of congratulations quickly arrived from Rafael Nadal, who tweeted: “Many congrats on this amazing achievement @DjokerNole. 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!”
Ruud came out sharp, exploiting Djokovic’s unusually leaden footwork with high shots to push his opponent back and breaking in the second game when the Serbian shanked a smash – the one remaining weakness in his game.
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.
Djokovic refused to miss in another long rally after Ruud created a break point in the next game, but it was the third seed cursing himself for a missed opportunity at 4-4, with his irritation compounded when he lost his balance and fell sprawling to the clay.
Djokovic also complained vociferously to the umpire about the quick turnaround between games as the set extended beyond the hour mark.
The longer it went on, the more important it became to win it, and Ruud was two points away on Djokovic’s serve after winning a point with a tweener lob but that was as close as he would come.
One of Djokovic’s greatest strengths is the ability to raise his level at key moments and he won an absurd sixth tie-break of the tournament without making a single unforced error.
Given Djokovic had won his previous 100 Grand Slam matches once he had taken the opening set, it was a crushing blow for Ruud, and that was compounded when he dropped serve in the second game of the second set.
Djokovic now looked fully settled, with his forehand purring, and, although Ruud saved two set points at 2-5, the door was firmly shut in his face in the next game.
Ruud was now clinging on by his fingernails but he was determined not to allow Djokovic to run away with it, as Nadal had last year.
The Norwegian found a better rhythm on his serve and applied some pressure to Djokovic, although he was left cursing his luck when his opponent benefited from a lucky netcord down 0-30 at 3-4, giving the French crowd a final chance for a round of booing.
The question seemed to be when Djokovic would make his move, though, and it came at 5-5, a series of superlative groundstrokes earning him the break, and moments later his moment of history.
After collecting his runners-up plate from former champion Yannick Noah, Ruud congratulated Djokovic.
“Another day, another record for you and another day you write rewrite tennis history,” said the fourth seed. “It’s tough to explain how incredible it is and how good you are.”
Turning to his team, Ruud said: “It’s been a long journey, I’m very happy that we can be back in the final and we will continue to work hard to try to come back to the final of Roland Garros once more.”