Djokovic wins Roland Garros and isolates himself as record holder – 06/11/2023 – Sport

Novak Djokovic is the greatest Grand Slam tournament winner in tennis history. The Serbian reached the 23rd achievement of his career by defeating Norwegian Casper Ruud this Sunday (11), in the final of Roland Garros. He won the French tournament in 3 sets to 0, 7-6, 6-3 and 7-5 in 3h13 of the match.

The Serb is now the sole trophy leader on the circuit that encompasses the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open. He was tied with Spain’s Rafael Nadal with 22 titles. At 36 years and 20 days, he is also the oldest tennis player to lift the trophy in Paris.

It was Djokovic’s 34th Grand Slam final, also a leader in the sport’s history. It is the third time he has won the most important competition on clay. He had already done the same in 2016 and 2021.

Casper Ruud, 24, is still chasing his first Grand Slam title. He had already been a finalist last year at Roland Garros and at the US Open. He lost at both.

Considered an underdog in this Sunday’s decision, he started better and broke Djokovic’s serve to open 2-0, but was unable to maintain the advantage, despite the Serb’s unforced errors. In a dispute that was also psychological, both made complaints to the chair umpire at halftime. The Norwegian complained about the time it took the opponent to serve between one point and another.

Djokovic wanted more time in recovery breaks. He remembered that it was a Grand Slam final, an important game. The balance was shown in the time of the first set, which ended with the Serbian’s advantage by 7-6 (7-1): 1h30.

Ruud’s stamina began to ebb in the second set as the new world No. 1 began to dominate. Unable to score the right hand, his most powerful weapon, he became easy prey for Djokovic, who broke his rival’s serve and closed at 6/3 after 48 minutes.

The Norwegian toughened the third set until the score was tied at 5-5. Every time the Serb seemed to have the advantage, his rival managed to recover. But in the 11th game, Djokovic was relentless, broke Ruud’s service and closed the match at 7/5 in a row.

For the title, he got the prize of 2.3 million euros (R$ 12 million) while Ruud pocketed 1.15 million euros (R$ 6 million) for reaching the final.