‘Incredible’ as history-making Djokovic claims record 23rd Grand Slam triumph

The 36-year-old Serb brushed off an early wobble to defeat Casper Ruud of Norway 7-6 (7/1), 6-3, 7-5 and snap the tie of 22 Slams he shared with career-long rival Rafael Nadal.

“It’s an incredible feeling to win 23. I’m beyond grateful and blessed to be standing here with so many incredible achievements,” said Djokovic as Nadal immediately described his rival’s victory as “an incredible achievement”.

Victory for the third time in Paris, after 2016 and 2021, adds to Djokovic’s 10 Australian Open titles, seven at Wimbledon and three at the US Open.

“It’s no coincidence that my 23^rd Grand Slam title has come here because it has been the hardest one for me to win in my career. I am very emotional right now and I am very, very proud,” added Djokovic who fired 11 aces and 52 winners in total past Ruud.

Djokovic is the first man to win all four majors at least three times and is once again halfway to the first calendar Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969.

“Your skill and unwavering mental fortitude on all surfaces is astonishing,” tweeted Laver.

Only Margaret Court and Serena Williams in women’s tennis have managed to rack up 23 Grand Slam titles. Court’s all-time mark of 24 will now be in Djokovic’s sights at Wimbledon next month.

There is little sign of Djokovic slowing down. He is now the oldest French Open champion but 11 of his Slam trophies have now been won after he turned 30.

Today, he will reclaim the world number one ranking and start his 388^th week in top spot.

“Many congrats on this amazing achievement. 23 is a number that just a few years back was impossible to think about, and you made it! Enjoy it with your family and team!” tweeted Nadal, a 14-time Roland Garros winner who missed this year’s tournament through injury.

Ruud added sportingly: “Novak, another day, another record for you. And another day you rewrite tennis history once again.”

The sense of yesterday’s occasion certainly attracted sports A-listers.

NFL legend Tom Brady watched from the Djokovic box, football stars Kylian Mbappe and Zlatan Ibrahimovic sat side by side in the VIP area which also accommodated former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, a regular this weekend.

Place in history

Djokovic was playing in his seventh French Open final and boasted a 4-0 career record over Ruud, not having lost a single set.

However, the fourth-ranked Norwegian was the more composed of the two at the start, sprinting out of the blocks for a 2-0 lead when Djokovic shanked an overhead.

It was to be Ruud’s only service break all afternoon.

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.

‘I can be a nightmare’

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 after three hours and 13 minutes.

The champion saluted his box where coach Goran Ivanisevic and wife Jelena sat.

“I know I can be a nightmare,” said Djokovic. “I want to thank you first of all for patience and tolerance and that stands out. I was really torturing you so I appreciate you being my rock, and my support and really believing in me.”

Swiatek wins third French Open

Meanwhile, Iga Swiatek battled past Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 to win her third French Open title on Saturday and become the first woman to successfully defend the Roland Garros title since 2007.

The 22-year-old Swiatek is just the third woman in the Open era to win each of her first four Grand Slam finals, the Pole adding to her 2020 and 2022 titles in Paris and last year’s US Open triumph.

Monica Seles and Naomi Osaka are the only other players to accomplish the feat.

Swiatek, the world number one from Poland, is also the youngest woman to claim back-to-back French Open titles since Monica Seles in the early 1990s.

Justine Henin was the last woman to win successive Roland Garros crowns when she captured her third in a row and fourth in total 16 years ago.

Swiatek’s latest coronation caps another dominant two weeks on the clay in Paris, where her record stands at 28 wins and two losses in five visits.

Muchova, at 43 in the world, was the fourth lowest ranked woman to reach the French Open final, her first championship match at a major.

Swiatek, then just 19, was ranked 54 when she lifted her first trophy – three years after Jelena Ostapenko’s shock triumph. Muchova’s compatriot Renata Tomanova was runner-up in 1976.

However, the unseeded Czech had won all five matches in her career against players in the top three – four of them at Grand Slams – having stunned Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals.