Djokovic wins 2nd French Open, overtakes Nadal to clinch record 23rd Grand Slam
Tennis legend Novak Djokovic extended his legacy at French Open 2023 and defeated Norway’s Casper Rudd 7-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the men’s single final to clinch record 23rd Grand Slam title.
This was the Djokovic’s third title at Roland Garros and his second Grand Slam of the year after he had clinched the Australian Open crown earlier in January, where he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. The win at Paris saw Djokovic surpass his long time contemporary Rafael Nadal’s record of 22 Grand Slams, making him the player with the highest number of major titles.
The match saw a close contest between Djokovic and Rudd in the opening set, which was decided in the tie-breakers. With both the stars locked at 6-6, Djokovic produced a commanding show in the tie breaker and closed the set 7-6. The 23-time Grand Slam winner carried the momentum in the second set and took a 3-0 lead. Rudd showed signs of comeback but failed to match the Serb’s intensity, who won it 6-3.
The final set saw Rudd take a 1-0 lead before Djokovic made it 1-1. Rudd continued to give Djokovic a strong fight in the third set, which saw him lead 3-2 at the midway stage. Djokovic rallied back to win the tiebreak, then cruised through the second set and tightened his grip when it mattered in the third. The 36-year-old third seed sealed an emphatic win when Ruud sent a forehand wide on the second match point.
Ruud, the 2022 runner-up to Nadal, stretched to 3-0 and 4-1 before Djokovic retrieved the break in the seventh game when his opponent buried an easy smash into the net with an open court begging. It came at the end of a lung-busting 28-shot rally. Djokovic missed a break point in the ninth game, tumbling to the red clay as he chased down a Ruud drive.
His frustration boiled over when he angrily accused umpire Damien Dumusois of rushing the players between changeovers on a heavy, humid afternoon in the French capital. Fired up, he then raced through the tiebreak, sealing the opener with a running forehand. Tellingly, that was Djokovic’s sixth tiebreak at this French Open and in none of them had he committed a single unforced error in the 55 points contested.
Despite being Djokovic’s junior by 12 years, Ruud, who also lost the 2022 US Open final to Carlos Alcaraz, suddenly looked spent. Djokovic broke for 2-0 in the second set and despite Ruud saving two set points in the eighth game, the Serb moved closer to his dream.
Ruud saved a break point in the third game of the third set before Djokovic was hit with a warning for taking too long between points. But he wasn’t thrown out of his stride. Djokovic broke for love at 6-5 and sealed his place in history when Ruud went wide.