Djokovic rewrote tennis history! After victory over Ruud, he has a record title

Even before the start of the men’s singles final match at Roland Garros, it was clear that we were about to see a significant entry in tennis history. In the final match, Novak Djokovic took on Casper Ruud. The Serbian tennis player’s success would set a new record for the number of Grand Slams won, the Norwegian battling for the first ever Big Four tournament title for Norwegian tennis. How did the match go?

The favourite for the final duel at Roland Garros was the experienced Serbian player. Neither tennis player at Roland Garros 2023 has lost more than one set in any match so far. All four of their encounters have ended in victories for the playing legend of world tennis.

Djokovic’s big weapon in the course of the Paris Grand Slam so far has been tiebreaks. He has won all five that the tournament has taken him to so far. But shortened games go well for the Oslo native, even though he played only one at the French Open. Over the course of this clay court season, he has won more than 90% of them.

Casper Ruud was more in the role of the one who can surprise before the match. However, Nora’s performances this year are on the rise and the 24-year-old tennis player has already started his third career Grand Slam today. He has managed to beat all of them in the last year, and if he were to beat Djokovic anywhere, it would be on clay, which is Ruud’s favourite surface.

The final match

Djokovic did not start the match in a good mood. Ruud, on the other hand, showed the solidity of his shots and at the first opportunity he got a break lead, which he confirmed. The best shot on court at this stage of the match was the Norwegian tennis player’s forehand.

But even he can make mistakes and one came at a crucial moment. After a beautiful exchange, the Norwegian failed to manage the final smash, which meant a break for the native of Belgrade.

The opening set was heading for a tiebreak and it confirmed Djokovic’s dominance in this activity over the last two weeks. The world number three stopped making mistakes, kept his opponent under pressure and it was soon decided. The marathon first set was won by the Serb 7:6 after ninety minutes.

In these moments of the match, Djokovic was proving why he has already won 22 Grand Slams. He dominated the start of the second set and came close to winning it. Although Ruud played no worse than he did at the start of the match, he pulled the short end of the rope and the phenomenal Serb went on to take the second set 6: 3.

Of the many statistics, it is worth mentioning the more than 70 percent success rate on first serve, which Djokovic also relied on.

Ruud’s effort to extend the match

Ruud had something to build on at the start of the third set. At the end of the second set, he tied the game again. In the third set he improved his first serve success rate, which was one of his weaknesses during the opening sets, and he also attacked earlier. As a result, he held his serve reliably. The same was true for his opponent.

A little over three hours had been played when the all-important game came. Djokovic dominated all the exchanges on serve from Nora, and with no straight points coming off his serve, the Serbian legend got the break.

Soon the Serbian player was on serve to win the Grand Slam tournament. Djokovic made it through and after sets 7::6, 6::3, 7::5, he won his 23rd Grand Slam title and thus made his name in tennis history quite indelibly.

Sources: Roland Garros, Eurosport