Tennis great Novak Djokovic has scripted history in men’s tennis as he clinched a record 23rd Grand Slam major title by overpowering Casper Ruud in the French Open final on Sunday.
Following the win, an emotional Novak Djokovic was full of pride when reflecting on his historic accomplishment.
"I knew that going into the tournament, going into the match, especially today, that there is history on the line. But I try to focus my attention and my thoughts into preparing for this match in the best way possible to win like any other match," Djokovic told reporters.
"For me, on a daily basis, I'm the best on the court, because with this state of mind, it's the only state of mind or spirit that can lead to historical results and this trophy. Afterwards, statistics are there, but we have a lot of different factors. It depends on the point of view of a person or the organizations that discuss these things. So I don't want to enter in these discussions. I'm writing my own history," he added.
Djokovic managed to overcome Ruud 7-6(1), 6-3, 7-5 to claim the third Roland Garros title in his decorated career.
Ruud made a strong start against the Serbian on Court-Philippe Chatrier but the three-time Roland Garros champion came up with an equal response. The first set carried top-quality performances from both players as the set proceeded towards a tie-breaker.
Initially, Djokovic trailed by 1-4 in the tiebreaker, but from that point, he produced some of his refined shots to clinch the set in a 13-minute triumph.
Later, Rudd made a comeback but it wasn't enough as the Serbian extended his lead to claim his record-breaking title.
With this victory, the three-time French Open winner will reclaim the No. 1 spot from Carlos Alcaraz in the ATP Rankings.
Djokovic has surpassed Rafael Nadal as the oldest Roland Garros champion at the age of 36 years and 20 days and with this victory, he became the first man to win all four Grand Slam events at least three times.
