French Open: Novak Djokovic wins the 23rd Grand Slam title by beating Casper Ruud in the final

“I am very happy to share this special moment of my career with you,” said Novak Djokovic after the coup in French on the Philippe-Chatrier court. “It’s no coincidence that I won my 23rd Grand Slam title here, because that was always the most difficult tournament for me. I’m very, very proud.”

Surprisingly, Djokovic found it difficult to get into the game. With just two games played, the Serb already had seven unforced errors and was 2-0 behind.

“It’s all still a bit cumbersome with Novak. He hasn’t arrived in the match yet,” Djokovic’s former coach wondered Boris Becker at Eurosport.

Ruud, meanwhile, seemed focused and made almost no mistakes in the early stages. The Norwegian was leading 3-0 after 22 minutes.

Djokovic break turning point in the final

Against Djokovic, however, the 24-year-old took the initiative and pulled away 4-1. “Ruud’s forehand is better than Djokovic’s,” analyzed Becker.

In fact, it was impressive how courageously and precisely the fourth in the world rankings from Oslo played against the record Grand Slam champion – until he too showed nerves.

Ruud made the first mistakes and promptly lost his service game to 3:4. Shortly thereafter, Djokovic was back (4: 4).

Djokovic switches to world class mode in the tiebreak

When it came to the tie-break, the 36-year-old showed once again why many consider him to be the best tennis player in history. Djokovic shifted at least one gear up and rolled over Ruud 7-1.

“Novak’s absolute world class always comes out when it matters most. Casper has been the better player so far. He lost the first set, Novak didn’t win it,” said Becker.

Ruud was now knocked out, had to give up the first game in the third round and fell 0:3 behind. Djokovic played off his experience and class, didn’t allow a breakball and safely brought the second set home 6: 3.

Ruud throws everything into the balance – in vain

To his credit, Ruud kept trying to turn the endgame around. The 24-year-old improved in the third set and fended off Djokovic’s break opportunity when the score was 1-1. “Casper is playing better now,” said Eurosport expert Becker.

The audience was now on Ruud’s side, there were whistles at Djokovic here and there – even when he hit a net roller. The Belgrade could continue to rely on his very good serve. In the game to make it 5:5, the superstar managed the eleventh ace, Ruud had four at the time.

Becker: “Djokovic is the Lion King”

A few minutes later the preliminary decision was made: Djokovic took the game from the challenger to 6: 5 to zero. With his own serve, the Serb made the historic coup perfect after 3:13 hours – and fell on the terre battue of Roland-Garros.

“Now he’s the lion king – finally,” Becker paid homage to his former protégé, whom he coached from 2013 to 2016. “We’ve seen tennis and sports history and I can’t imagine a player ever winning more.”