by Steve Flink
At the end of his 70th career Grand Slam tournament and his 19th appearance at Roland Garros, Novak Djokovic made good on two overriding goals. He captured his 23rd major title, moving to the top of the men’s list at last with the triumph. In turn, he took his third crown at Roland Garros, which made him the first and only man in the history of the sport to secure at least three singles titles at all four majors. He raised his record in major finals to 23-11, and has now claimed victory in 15 of his last 18 title round contests at the Grand Slam championships. Moreover, the 36-year-old established himself as the oldest man (at 36 years and twenty days) ever to rule at Roland Garros.
By virtue of his latest monumental win in Paris, Djokovic moves back to No. 1 in the world and, for the second time in three years and the third time overall in his career, he is half way to a Grand Slam after securing the first two majors of the season. Having won the last four Wimbledon singles titles and seven altogether at the shrine, he will be a clear favorite to come through again next month on the lawns of the All England Club.
In his final round meeting at Roland Garros against No. 4 seed Casper Ruud—who was appearing in his third Grand Slam final of the last five played—Djokovic struggled inordinately early on to find his energy, rhythm, and customary ball control. He would make 32 unforced errors across three sets on this occasion, but 18 of those self inflicted wounds were in the first set. He made only 14 more the rest of the way.
Djokovic’s first set difficulties started in the second game on his serve. In a five deuce game, he had three game points but could not convert, and a resolute Ruud took full advantage. The Norwegian broke Djokovic for 2-0 and held on for 3-0. He was disrupting Djokovic skillfully from the backcourt, largely with high trajectory shots which made the Serbian play awkward shots above his shoulder too frequently.
The battle was being fought by and large on Ruud’s terms until he served at 4-2. Until that juncture, he was not only making Djokovic uncomfortable, but also executing his own game plan superbly. His vulnerable backhand was holding up surprisingly well, and his forehand was first rate. But he lost his serve apprehensively in the seventh game, bungling an overhead at break point down.
In the high humidity, Djokovic seemed to be breathing hard, but he fended off a break point in the eighth game. Having already missed a few routine overheads, he played his smash carefully and then answered Ruud’s response with a forehand drop volley winner on the 25th shot of a demanding exchange. Djokovic held on for 4-4 with an impeccable serve down the T setting up a forehand winner. He then had a break point in the following game, only to pull a forehand wide.
Ruud fully understood that he needed this opening set more than Djokovic. The 24-year-old held on steadfastly for 5-4 and had the Serbian down 0-30 in the tenth game. Djokovic met that moment boldly, making a backhand drop volley winner, and coming forward again to force an errant backhand pass. At 30-30 Ruud overhit a forehand second serve return, and then Djokovic approached the net again to draw an error. It was 5-5. Both players held at 15 for 6-6, and so, fittingly, a tie-break settled the outcome of the set.
That did not auger well for Ruud. Djokovic had won all five tie-breaks he had played in the previous rounds and had not made a single unforced error in any of them. Nothing changed against Ruud. Djokovic sent a flat forehand scorching down the line for a winner on the first point, and never looked back, wrapping it up with an ace and a forehand winner. He prevailed seven points to one and put himself out in front after 82 taxing minutes with his sixth tie-break triumph of the tournament. He played a total of 55 points in those six tie-breaks without making any unprovoked mistakes. None. Zero. Pause briefly and think about that.
The boost to Djokovic in coming from behind to win that set with such a dominant tie-break performance spilled over into the second set. He held at love for 1-0 with an ace, broke Ruud in the second game with persistence and polish from the backcourt, and then held for 3-0 at 15 after two aces and a service winner took him to 40-0. Djokovic surged to 5-2, had Ruud down 15-40 in the eighth game, and nearly sealed the set there.
The 24-year-old held on gamely, however, erasing two set points again him and forcing Djokovic to serve out the set. That was no problem for the Serbian, who held at love and reached two sets to love with a backhand down the line winner.
There is no better front runner in tennis today, and probably there never has been. But Ruud commendably fought on valiantly despite the severity of the obstacle he faced. At 1-1 in the third set, Djokovic had a break point that he squandered by netting a routine backhand down the line. On his way to 3-3, Djokovic conceded only one point on his own serve but Ruud was refusing to surrender.
The Norwegian gave himself an opening in the eighth game with Djokovic serving at 0-30, but the 36-year-old produced a fortunate forehand let cord winner. Djokovic swiftly took the next three points, winning two of the three with an ace and a service winner, taking the other with a swing volley that was too much for Ruud to handle. The set score was locked at 4-4.
Ruud remained unwavering, holding on for 5-4. But Djokovic simply raised the stakes one last time, and unleashed some of his most unanswerable tennis down the stretch. He held at love for 5-5 with two aces down the T in the deuce court and a game concluding forehand winner struck with clarity and conviction. He then broke Ruud at love, commencing that game with a backhand down the line winner, closing it with a two-hander driven crosscourt for another winner. Serving for the match, he raced to 40-0, missed a forehand crosscourt, and then coaxed one last error from a beleaguered yet thoroughly professional Ruud. Djokovic had closed out the match and the tournament in style, taking three consecutive games, 12 of the last 13 points, and prevailing 7-6 (1), 6-3, 7-5. He made history of a high order once more with another supreme display of tactical acuity, increasing technical soundness off both sides, and enormous willpower. It was a final of which he could be proud. Across the last two sets, he did not face a break point, winning 44 of 53 points in eleven service games.
And yet, while every final is eagerly anticipated because of the immense and sometimes monumental consequences, the match everyone wanted to see more than any other at this edition of Roland Garros was the duel in the penultimate round between Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. In the weeks leading up to the French Open, it seemed entirely possible that Djokovic and Alcaraz would be the top two seeds. That, of course, would have ensured they could only meet in the final.
But when Daniil Medvedev surprisingly took the Italian Open crown in Rome, he moved past Djokovic in the ATP Rankings to No. 2 in the world. As fate would decree, Djokovic and Alcaraz— the two players who had captured the last three majors between them—ended up on the same half, and so they clashed in the semifinal round instead.
The first two sets of their encounter were nothing short of stupendous. The tennis soared to unimaginable levels. Both players were primed for the contest. It had the feeling of a final. Djokovic was magnificent in the opening set. He was out-dueling Alcaraz from the baseline, using the backhand down the line judiciously, walloping his forehand with extraordinary control and power and control, and beating the Spaniard to the punch in one crackling exchange after another.
Conceding only three points in his first two service games when he put ten of eleven first serves in play, the Serbian made his move in the fourth game. At break point, Djokovic implemented the drop shot to draw Alcaraz in. The Spaniard angled a forehand crosscourt in response. Djokovic answered with a forehand down the line, taking the net away from Alcaraz. The Spaniard tried to pass the Serbian with a backhand crosscourt, but Djokovic covered the net with alacrity, putting away a backhand volley into the open court.
Djokovic made that one break count. He held at 30 for 4-1, and sedulously protected his delivery in a five deuce seventh game, erasing three break points against him to reach 5-2. After Alcaraz saved a set point in the following game with a swing volley winner, Djokovic held his nerve admirably when he served for the set at 5-3. Down break point, he released a 129 MPH service winner out wide. He followed with a service winner to the Alcaraz forehand in the deuce court, and closed it out forcefully. Coming in behind his first serve, he coaxed an errant backhand return from Alcaraz. The set went to a supremely disciplined Djokovic, 6-3.
Gradually, Alcaraz found a higher level in the second set. Perhaps one inspirational moment altered his thinking and made him believe. With Alcaraz serving at 1-1, 15-0, Djokovic drew him forward with a backhand drop shot, and then cut off Alcaraz’s response with a backhand volley down the middle. Alcaraz chased it down with his customary speed, somehow wheeled around, turned, and sent a spectacular forehand pass crosscourt. The Spaniard beamed. Djokovic smiled appreciatively. The crowd applauded vociferously.
But considerable drama remained across the rest of that memorable second set. Serving at 2-3, 40-0, Djokovic netted a backhand down the line and immediately started shaking out his arm. He held on for 3-3 but, after Alcaraz moved in front with a hold for 4-3, the trainer came out at the changeover and massaged Djokovic’s right arm.
Perhaps preoccupied with whatever he was feeling, Djokovic was broken for the first time in the match to trail 5-3 as his serve speed dropped significantly. Nonetheless, he played a terrific return game to break right back with a backhand down the winner. Now serving at 4-5, Djokovic was down 0-40 but he swept five points in a row with precision serving, timely attacking and stinging groundstrokes.
The Serbian was back to 5-5. He then reached break point in the following game, only to mishandle a high backhand, uncharacteristically sending it wide crosscourt. Alcaraz managed to hold on for 6-5, and a tie-break seemed almost certain. But Djokovic served-and-volleyed on the first point of the twelfth game and angled a backhand first volley wide. Alcaraz proceeded to break at love, winning the set 7-5, making it one set all, leading most observers to believe that the best might be yet to come for both players.
But after Alcaraz held in the opening game of the third set, Djokovic was serving at 40-30 in the second game and it was apparent that the Spaniard was in trouble. He lost that point with an off balance netted forehand return as Djokovic reached 1-1, but now Alcaraz was writhing. He was cramping all over his body on an exceedingly hot day. He took a timeout to have the trainer rub his legs, but the delay resulted in the automatic loss of the third game. Cramps are not considered an injury but rather a loss of conditioning.Djokovic had the benefit of a service break for 2-1 without hitting a ball.
The match was essentially over. Djokovic won a deuce game for 3-1, broke at love for 4-1, held at 15 for 5-1, and broke again at 30 to take the set 6-1. All Alcaraz could do was swing away and hope for the best but his mobility was severely restricted. Somewhat better in the fourth set, Alcaraz honorably stayed out there and took his punishment. Djokovic moved to 5-0 before Alcaraz ended an eleven game losing streak. Soon it was over and Djokovic had triumphed 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1. For the first two sets, it was a glorious spectacle. Across the last two sets it was painful to watch, although Djokovic was highly professional in refusing to become distracted by an ailing adversary.
Djokovic had made it to the penultimate round by ousting No. 11 seed Karen Khachanov, who had been to the semifinals of his previous two majors and was hoping to keep that string going. Khachanov was bearing down hard as he took the first set from a listless Djokovic, and then both men held through the first twelve games of the second set. Djokovic had still not broken serve as he headed into a crucial second set tie-break. In that sequence, he was letter perfect, prevailing 7-0.
The triumph in that second set tie-break against Khachanov carried Djokovic right through the rest of the match. He lifted his game exponentially, swept through the third set 6-2, and built a 4-2 fourth set lead. Having won eleven of the last fifteen games since the start of the tie-break, Djokovic was back in his groove. Khachanov briefly halted his opponent’’s momentum, rallying to 4-4. But Djokovic once more went into his lockdown mode, capturing eight points in a row and two straight games to close out the battle 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-4.
In the previous round, Djokovic had dissected Juan Pablo Varillas 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. The Peruvian had knocked out a pair of seeds en route to the Djokovic appointment, defeating No. 19 Roberto Bautista Agut and No. 13 Hubert Hurkacz. He had won three five set matches in a row before taking on Djokovic, but the No. 3 seed took him apart methodically.
Perhaps the primary reason Djokovic was so sharp in his confrontation with Varillas was the third round test he had against the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The No. 29 seed had toppled an off form Djokovic in their previous meeting at Monte Carlo in 2022, and he knows his way around a clay court well. He played an intelligent match and made Djokovic work awfully hard in the first two sets.
At 5-5 in the opening set, Djokovic, struggling inordinately with the wind at his back, served three double faults and lost his serve. He managed to break right back, but soon trailed 1-3 in the tiebreak before taking six of the next seven points to prevail 7-4, wrapping it up with a blazing forehand return winner. At 5-6 in a pendulum swinging second set, Djokovic was down set point but he refused to miss and forced his will on his adversary. In the ensuing tie-break, Djokovic was serving with a 4-1 lead, lost the next four points to trail 4-5, but collected three points in a row to reach two sets to love. On to victory he went 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-2. What could easily have been a five hour marathon ended instead in three hours and thirty six minutes.
Rounding out Djokovic’s road to the final, he was pushed hard in an 87 minute first set against Marton Fucsovics but thereafter he rolled to a 7-6 (2), 6-0, 6-3 second round victory. And his first round assignment was relatively routine as Djokovic accounted for Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (1) after serving for the match at 5-4 in that third set against the world No. 114.
As for Ruud, the No. 4 seed took apart qualifier Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round before a somewhat difficult 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory over Giulio Zeppieri, a qualifier from Italy who had toppled the ever dangerous Alexander Bublik in the opening round. Ruud had to fight from behind to defeat Zhizhen Zhang 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 in his third round skirmish. Next on Ruud’s agenda was a 7-6 (3) 7-5, 7-5 win over the Chilean Nicolas Jarry, a player who had beaten the Norwegian right before Roland Garros in the quarterfinals of Geneva.
That victory took Ruud into an eagerly awaited quarterfinal against No. 6 seed Holger Rune of Denmark. Ruud had beaten Rune in a four set quarterfinal at Roland Garros a year ago. But the Norwegian had suffered his first loss in five career collisions with Rune in Rome. Coming into the tournament, many in the tennis cognoscenti believed Rune might be ready to reach his first major final, and perhaps in a best case scenario even win the tournament.
But Rune was stretched to his limits by one of the world’s most improved clay court players. Francisco Cerendulo of Argentina—the No. 23 seed—took Rune into a fifth set tie-break after squandering an opportunity with the Dane serving at 3-4, 0-40. That meeting lasted one minute shy of four hours, and it was apparent from the outset of the Rune-Ruud quarterfinal that Rune was terribly depleted. He was almost unrecognizable over the first two sets, and Ruud fully exploited the situation, conceding only three games.
Early in the third, Rune found some energy and inspiration. It was enough to earn him a set, but that was it. Ruud resumed his mastery of the match with first rate ball striking and fine strategic acumen. He succeeded 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. That gave the 24-yer-old an opportunity to face Sascha Zverev in the semifinals in a showdown most observers believed was a tossup.
It was, ultimately, nothing of the kind. Although Zverev was appearing in his third consecutive semifinal at Roland Garros and playing top of the line tennis, he was well below par against Ruud. Zverev was outmaneuvered from the backcourt and his first serve— one of the best in the business—was not finding the corners with regularity. He won only 55% of his first serve points and 45% on his second delivery and was broken six times. A highly focussed Ruud romped 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 in two hours and nine minutes.
Meanwhile, the upset of the tournament took place in the first round. Medvedev was riding high after Rome, where he won the first clay court title of his career, Not only that, but heading into Roland Garros he had won 39 of 44 matches and five titles altogether this season. But Medvedev was ushered out of the tournament in four hours and fifteen minutes by none other than qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild 7-6 (5), 6-7 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. The Brazilian was hitting brilliantly through the wind and clipping lines with astounding consistency, but the fact remains that Medvedev saved two set points in the second set tie-break and seemingly had control of the match. He lost his serve three times in the fifth set. This enigmatic fellow lost in the third round of the Australian Open and then bowed out in the first round at Roland Garros. He should be better than that.
No one is saying that about Novak Djokovic. What made his Roland Garros championship run all the more remarkable was because it came on the heels of one of his most disappointing clay court seasons. The best he did in three tournaments en route to Paris was to reach the quarterfinals in Rome, where he did not play well against Holger Rune in a three set clash,
During that stretch, Djokovic was struggling with his elbow and battling other ailments. But when the most prestigious prize of them all on clay was at stake in Paris, Djokovic was not found wanting. By succeeding at Roland Garros, the world No. 1 has put himself in an enviable position. Not many players stand much of a chance against Djokovic at Wimbledon. In my view, he has an excellent chance of garnering an eighth title to tie Roger Federer’s men’s record.
Two years ago he did get the job done on the lawns, and then went all the way to the final of the U.S. Open. He was three sets away from becoming only the third man and sixth player to win the Grand Slam. But he lost to Medvedev in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
I believed then that despite his astonishing drive and determination that he would never get a chance like that again. I thought it was asking too much of him. And yet, here he is with another opportunity to set himself apart on the historical ladder of the game he has played so prodigiously for a living. Here he is, heading into Wimbledon committed to winning there again, thoroughly believing in himself. Here is Novak Djokovic, chasing and making history of the rarest kind, relishing the thought of adding to his luster, fully appreciating the life he leads and the targets he keeps hitting. Of the last 17 majors Djokovic has played, he has been victorious in no fewer than eleven.
Will he take these next two majors and establish himself as the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to secure a Grand Slam? I believe he is going to realize that remarkable feat.
