Novak Djokovic became Sunday at 36 the first man to win 23 Grand Slam titles and it was not Casper Ruud, his opponent in the final at Roland-Garros who was going to prevent him: the Serb won 7- 6 (7/1), 6-3, 7-5.
“It’s not a small thing for me to win my 23rd Grand Slam title here because it was the most difficult tournament for me to win, so I’m overwhelmed with emotions,” Djokovic said as he received the trophy. hands of Yannick Noah, winner forty years ago.
“I am very happy to share with you this very special moment for me”, he launched to the public who supported him as rarely, hoping to see this page of tennis history being written before his eyes. . Among the spectators, the triple winner Gustavo Kuerten, the football stars Kylian Mbappé and Zlatan Ibrahimovic or even the former quarterback Tom Brady.
He also received congratulations from Rafael Nadal on Twitter for his “incredible achievement”.
Because a twenty-year quest has found its epilogue: since his arrival on the professional circuit in 2003, Djokovic has been running behind the benchmark statistics established by his glorious opponents Federer and Nadal. He robbed them of most of the records but he remained the main one: that of the Grand Slam titles.
– Absolute record –
Having equaled Nadal in Australia in January, he overtook him in Paris. And he will have the opportunity at Wimbledon, where he will be the favorite, to equal the absolute record, still held by Australian Margaret Court (24).
“I’m going to be looking to win Wimbledon again. I’ve won the last four Wimbledons, I feel good on the grass,” he said.
He is also guaranteed to become world No.1 again on Monday and therefore to begin a 388th week at the top of the world hierarchy (record). And he becomes the first man to have won at least three times each of the four Grand Slam tournaments (10 times the Australian Open, 3 times Roland-Garros, 7 times Wimbledon and 3 times the US Open).
The Serb took advantage of the absence of the master of the place Rafael Nadal (fourteen times winner on Parisian clay). During this splendor tournament, he also took the opportunity to win the duel of generations by physically beating his main opponent Carlos Alcaraz, world No.1 and who represents the future of tennis, in the semi-finals.
Yet his season on earth had not been fruitful so far.
But Roland-Garros “was the only tournament that mattered” in his eyes, assured his coach Goran Ivanisevic. “The day we arrived here, he was better, more motivated, he was hungrier… and now we’re hitting the jackpot,” he added.
Sunday’s final was not as one-sided as last year’s where Ruud was crushed by Nadal.
– “How strong you are” –
So the 24-year-old Norwegian led in the first set with a break until Djokovic came back to 4-4. And the Serb needed 90 minutes to complete this first set in the tie break.
But in the end, the Norwegian did lose his third Grand Slam final in a row (also with that of the US Open 2022).
“Another record, another page of history… What can I say if not how strong you are”, declared Ruud to the address of his winner while receiving the trophy of the finalist.
“We understand why he won 23 Grand Slam titles when we see how he turned the situation around in the first set (Ruud led 3-0, editor’s note) then how he raised his level of play in the second and third sets” , added the Norwegian.
On Sunday evening in Belgrade, a giant portrait of Djokovic brandishing his trophy was projected onto a tower under construction on the banks of the Sava.
Grand Slam titles (23), weeks spent as world No.1 (388 from Monday), years finished at the top of the pyramid (7), end-of-year Masters titles (6 as Federer) and Masters 1000 (38)… Statistically, Djokovic is the greatest. In the few seasons he has left, he still has one of the main records to go, that of 109 victories on the circuit held by Jimmy Connors. Djokovic is at 94.
