DPA
Paris
Novak Djokovic won 12 of the last 13 points as he overpowered Casper Ruud 7-6 (7-1), 6-3, 7-5 in the French Open final to claim a men’s record 23rd Grand Slam title on Sunday.
Third seed Djokovic rallied from 4-1 down in the first set and was in command once he clinched the opener against fourth seed Ruud.
Ruud put up a fight but did not manage a break point in the remaining sets as Djokovic roared from 5-4 down in the third to victory with the help of 52 winners, to Ruud’s 31.
He won 11 points in a row and then wrapped up matters on second match point with a crosscourt backhand winner after 3 hours 13 minutes.
Djokovic, 36, moved one Grand Slam title ahead of Rafael Nadal, the record 14-time Roland Garros champion who was missing this time around for injury reasons and congratulated Djokovic instantly on Twitter for "an amazing achievement.”
Only Margaret Court has more Grand Slam titles with 24 on the women’s side.
"I am delighted to share this important moment of my career with you. It is no coincidence that I got the 23rd title here. This was always the most difficult tournament for me,” Djokovic said in French to a crowd including former NFL great Tom Brady as well as football stars Kylian Mbappe, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Olivier Giroud.
Sporting a jacket with the number 23 on it, Djokovic received the Coupe des Mousquetaires from former French great and 1983 winner Yannick Noah, plus a small trophy with all his 23 titles engraved.
He added in the direction of Ruud: "You are one of the best persons on the tour. Sorry for the result today, you have been one of the most consistent players in the world. I wish you really all the best.”
The Serb is the first player to win every major at least three times, now boasting 10 Australian Opens, seven Wimbledons and three US and French Opens each. His first title came at the 2008 Australian Open.
Djokovic replaced Nadal as the oldest champion at Roland Garros and also returns to the top of the world rankings, dethroning Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz who he beat in the semi-finals on Friday.
Norway’s Ruud failed again in his third grand slam final to lift a trophy, having also been beaten by Nadal last year in Paris and by Alcaraz a few months later in New York.
He is now 0-5 against Djokovic and is yet to win a set against him.
"Another day, another record for you. Another day you rewrite tennis history,” Ruud told Djokovic at the trophy presentation. "It is tough to say how good you are. Congrats to you and your team.”
"It’s been a long way to come back into a French Open final. We will continue to work and try to come back to the final of Roland Garros once more.”
Djokovic had shown nerves two years ago with history beckoning when he failed to clinch a rare calendar year Grand Slam by losing the USOpen final against Daniil Medvedev.
He had a slow start on a humid Sunday in Paris as Ruud held serve at love in the opening game and then broke in a long second game as a slightly nervous Djokovic had several unforced errors.
Ruud moved on to 3-0 and 4-1 but Djokovic then clawed his way back into the match, breaking back in the seventh game on his first chance when Ruud netted an overhead, and tying it up at 4-4 with a forehand winner after saving break point.
Djokovic wasted a break point as Ruud stopped his comeback by holding for 5-4, but Djokovic then raced through the tiebreak to go one set up with a fericious forehand winner - making it 6 out of 6 tiebreaks at this Roland Garros without a single unforced error.
That set the tone for the remainder of the contest.
Djokovic raced off to 3-0 and served out the second set at love in the ninth game, after wasting two set points in the previous game while Ruud only got a brief sniff at a comeback 30-15 up in the seventh game on Djokovic’s serve.
Ruud saved another break point early in the third as he hung in there while like in the second not managing a break point himself despite fighting bravely.
He put Djokovic under pressure by making him serve to stay in the set in the 10th, only for the Serb to respond like a champion.
Djokovic won the next 11 points for triple match point, missed the first but sunk to the ground in relief and joy after being successful on his second chance.