Summary of the meeting:
It is a monumental achievement in the history of tennis. By dominating the Norwegian Casper Ruud (7-6[7-1], 6-3, 7-5) in the Roland-Garros final, Novak Djokovic became, on Sunday, the only male player in his sport to hold 23 Grand Slam titles. All at 36 years old.
When, in 2009, the Swiss Roger Federer had surpassed the American Pete Sampras in the number of victories in Major (15 against 14), one wondered at the time if this record could one day be beaten. Not only was he beaten, but he was even pulverized by the three legends: Federer, Djokovic and Rafael Nadal! The Swiss, now retired, has 20 against 22 for the Spaniard, who had been forced to forfeit this edition of the French Open.
For a set, the final of the 2023 edition of the Parisian Grand Slam will have been undecided. Unhappy finalist in 2022, Casper Ruud relied on his rounded and deep forehands to make Novak Djokovic doubt. But after erasing his late break, the Serb revved up until the decisive game, one-sided in his favor (7-6[7-1]).
Released by winning this first round, “Joko” then dropped the winning shots as Casper Ruud showed signs of frustration, unusual for him, which testified to his impotence (6-3).
If the Norwegian hung on in the third set by holding his face-off until 5-5, he was never able to reverse the dynamics of the match and the Serb ended up making a white break before serving for the match, without shaking despite the challenge of this victory (7-5).
Djokovic was able to celebrate his coronation two days after an unfinished shock against world number 1, Carlos Alcaraz. Victim of cramps when the two opponents were one round away, the young Spaniard could not compete physically from the start of the third set.
For Casper Ruud, this is a third defeat in the final of a Grand Slam, after Roland-Garros and the US Open in 2022. In the ATP rankings on Monday, Novak Djokovic will dislodge Carlos Alcaraz at the top of the rankings.
Now triple winner of Roland-Garros (after the 2016 and 2021 editions), “Joko” is about to become world number 1 again, for the 388e week, which will constitute another record… one more among his collection.
