After his success against the Norwegian (7-6 [7-1]6-3, 7-5), he overtook Rafael Nadal, blocked at 22 titles and forfeited this year.
A new record to enter a little more into the legend. Novak Djokovic offered himself a 23rd Grand Slam title thanks to his victory in the Roland-Garros final against Casper Ruud, Sunday June 11, after a fight of 3h12 (7-6 [7-1], 6-3, 7-5). Victim of the Norwegian’s good start to the match, the Serb first foiled, chaining gross unforced errors in the first set. A procrastination which, however, did not take advantage of Casper Ruud, dryly beaten in the decisive game.
Unlike his two previous finals on Parisian ocher won against Andy Murray in 2016 and Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2021, the world number 3 then folded the deal in three sets. Shrunken by a Rafael Nadal then crowned for the 14th time at Porte d’Auteuil last year, Casper Ruud was again at the forefront of one of the great hours of his sport. “Djoko” had a date with history and he would not have let anyone deprive him of the record for the number of Major titles.
A tense first set
The public at the Philippe-Chatrier court understood this well. Regularly whistled during the fortnight, the Serb this time was widely applauded as soon as he entered the playing area. Scenes already seen during his defeat in the final of the US Open 2021 against Daniil Medvedev when he was not only one match away from lining up the four Majors in the same year.
But that did not really succeed for him at the start of the game. Nervous and disturbed by the overpowered returns of a Casper Ruud at the height of the event, the Belgradois gave up his entry service. He who had flirted with the limits of the court during the first two sets against Carlos Alcaraz often gave the impression of holding back his shots for fear of missing them.
Embarrassed in the game, the world number 3 relied on his experience to make the difference. After an exchange from the baseline finally sent into the net by the Norwegian after 28 shots, Novak Djokovic broke to come back to 4-3 and hold until the decisive game. His cute sin. Forehands along the line, cushioning, ace… The “Djoker” kept his best cards to win his sixth tie-break without any unforced error in as many disputed over the fortnight.
The step was too high for Casper Ruud
Led after 1h21 of a bitter fight, Casper Ruud then saw his game darken in the second set, like the threatening sky above the central. A true earthling (72% of victories on clay against only 53% on hard and 37% on grass), the native of Oslo has, despite the surface, never been able to take what would have been his first set in five clashes against Novak Djokovic.
More specifically pushed by stands resigned to the outcome of the meeting, the Serb has found his angles, his incisive shots and even his luck. Under pressure at 0-30 on his serve in the third set, he received a boost from the net to finally allow him to pick up four games everywhere. The rest was written: a break on shutout at 6-5 giving him the opportunity to serve for the match and a converted tournament point before celebrating with rage on the court.
In the running for a calendar Grand Slam
With a third Mousquetaires Cup in his pocket, “Nole” joins Gustavo Kuerten, Mats Wilander and Ivan Lendl in the number of victories on Parisian clay. But not only. Thanks to this 23rd Grand Slam title, the Serb erases Rafael Nadal from the shelves and recovers the place of world number 1 from Carlos Alcaraz.
Already winner of the Australian Open in January and authorized to play the US Open at the end of the year due to the easing of American restrictions linked to Covid-19, Novak Djokovic finds himself once again in a good position to aim a calendar Grand Slam, as in 2021. For that, he will have to shine on the grass of Wimbledon, of which he will be the huge favorite this summer.