Novak Djokovic beats Casper Ruud to win French Open men’s singles final and has now become the greatest tennis player in history of the game with 23 Grand Slam titles.
French Open Final highlights
- Serbian beat Casper Ruud 7-6 (1), 6-3, 7-5 at Roland Garros
- Djokovic now has one more grand slam title than Rafael Nadal
Finally, Djokovic has surpassed Rafael Nadal who he previously shared the record of 22 Grand Slam titles.
The Serbian beats Casper Ruud in straight sets to win his third French Open and his 23rd Grand Slam – one more than Nadal and becomes the first man in tennis history to win all four major tournaments three or more times.
Casper Ruud started the final’s first set brighter than ATP no.3 Djokovic.
First set
The Norwegian, who is also the tournament’s fourth seed, started the match utterly vaporising his forehand
and broke serve on this third opportunity en route to a 3-0 lead.
However, Nole slowly got back in game seven, breaking Ruud on netted overhead to narrow his deficit to 3-4.
The Serb had to save a break point in the following game before holding to level the contest at 4-4.
Ruud, who lost three games in a row, suddenly got back on his feet, saving a break point before inching ahead 5-4.
The tiebreak took place after more than an hour (73 minutes) of play, in which Djokovic conceded just one point to take a one-set lead in one hour and 21 minutes.
Second set
Djokovic started the second set with a break and was soon up 3-0. Things just got more and more comfortable for him before securing a two-set advantage on the two-hour 13-minute mark.
Third set
It seemed to be a tight set but a vital break in the in the 11th game gave the Serb the advantage he needed and he never looked back, cementing his name further in the history books.
The greatest of history?
One of, or, now-the-greatest tennis player in history with records broken.
The French Open victory means that Nole is now the men’s only grand slam record holder, beside numerous other records.
He also has now won three titles in Paris and is the first to do so as no other man has ever won each grand slam tournament twice.
At 36 years and 20 days, Djokovic is the oldest Roland Garros champion in history.
He could have won 23 grand slams already had it not been for his decision to remain unvaccinated against Covid-19.
As a result, he was deported from Australia before the Australian Open in 2022, and missed the US Open that same year, due to the countries’ requirements for travelers to be vaccinated against the virus.
He will also return to No 1 for a record-extending 388th week as the best player in the world.
