Novak Djokovic wins Roland Garros: A historical icon

Novak Djokovic looked great. June 11 was a chosen day, he kept his hair short and shaved close and appeared like a god.

After all, the 23rd Grand Slam title appeared, the 3rd Roland Garros championship (2016, 2021 and 2023), the second biggest tournament of the year and above all, stepping up to the pinnacle of tennis history.

The 23rd Grand Slam has arrived

Nole prevailed, in a new way: 7-6(7-1), 6-3 and 7-5, in 3 hours and 13 minutes. Poor Casper Ruud, 3 Grand Slam finals and all losses, bowed his head to congratulate the man from Belgrade, who has now moved ahead of Rafael Nadal and become the most successful male tennis player of all time.

A little confused

The boy who dreamed of becoming Sampras now has all the records, constantly conquering the seemingly impossible. Djokovic is the oldest champion in Paris - 36 years and 20 days, surpassing Nadal. He also became the first male tennis player to win at least three Grand Slam tournaments.

Djokovic wrote his history story quite suspensefully. Because at first Nole was present on the main court Philippe Chatrier, but he seemed to not exist there.

Djokovic's fans and his team were puzzled. The champion looked like a robot, no longer a tennis player designed according to complex technical programs. There he was suffering, starting the final of the 127th edition of the French Open with difficulty.

There was a strange nervousness. It seemed that the dressing room was not well prepared. For half an hour the legendary Serbian was unrecognizable, against the effective strokes of the diligent Ruud.

Nole started badly, but then controlled the situation

Ruud, with the face of an actor, had a spectacular start. At a Roland Garros event without the king Rafael Nadal, the Norwegian was full of confidence and dreamed of miracles. He hit better shots and kept scoring points against an errant Nole.

The Nordic boy led 3-0 and Djokovic really got angry. Nole asked for water, asked for cold towels, wrapped himself in them and started to figure out how to deal with the problems he had.

A brain working at full capacity. What the hell? Calm down! Novak told himself to stay calm. This was his 34th Grand Slam final and Nole was furious with himself.

Turning Point

Experience doesn't directly help win games, but it helps, of course sometimes a lot.

Grey clouds rolled in from La Defense and the forecast said it would rain in the afternoon in Paris. The roof of La Chatrier was drawn up and that gave Nole an extra hand.

The storm reached the Bois de Boulogne, but there was no rain and everything changed. From 3-0 to 4-1, Ruud tried to keep the gap then turned to resistance and failed.

The opportunity was too tempting for Nole. He had missed such a good chance two years ago in New York, against Daniil Medvedev. The Russian, a hothead on the track, did not forgive his opponent for making a mistake and won his first Grand Slam to date.

Ruud tried hard but it was not enough.

Paris has also witnessed mixed moments for Djokovic, sometimes painful defeats. He did not let the mistake repeat itself, going straight to the final victory 3-0.

It was his third time here, on par with Ivan Lendl, the great Mats Wilander, or the picturesque Gustavo Kuerten.

Djokovic is known to be good on hard and grass surfaces. Nole will know how to operate on Mars, if necessary. He just proved that with a victory on clay, after knocking out Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals.

The worse the situation, the stronger the reaction tends to be. Djokovic is like that.

Djokovic's space

Nadal is not here and Djokovic cannot afford to waste the opportunity, he tells himself. So he improves matters subtly. History has just been written. Serbian flags in the stands. "No-le! No-le! No-le!", people shout and chant.

The muscular Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Swedish football legend who just tearfully retired from his career a few days ago and is a good friend, cheering for Nole, sat next to Kylian Mbappe.

In the stands, Djokovic saw another Hercules behind his sunglasses, Tom Brady, the American football star, also decided to hang up his helmet to rest. There was also Olivier Giroud of AC Milan, of whom he is an honorary fan...

And down the field Nole is recovering, escaping the Ruud fire.

Djokovic is history

Ruud had just scored a great point, turned and ran for a deep, seemingly unreachable ball that Djokovic slipped on to volley. It was the fall that left him flat on his face that allowed Novak to find his way out and turn the final script around.

Years pass, turning 36, but some things remain the same. Djokovic, until the very last second of his career, will continue to be Djokovic, the genius and the troublemaker, the giant of excitement by both emotion and controversy.

Nole was more consistent and broke his opponent's spirit. He made Ruud commit errors and took penalties. In the 6 tie-breaks at Roland Garros, Djokovic did not make a mistake. This limit is his comfort zone.

Although Djokovic accumulated 18 defeats at the end of the first set, in a dramatic 81 minutes, but when preparing for the second set, half the trophy was in his pocket. Ruud fought without losing faith, but Nole created a gap in level with him too far.

Djokovic is the No. 1 tennis player in men's tennis, equaling Serena Williams' record of 23 Grand Slams in women's tennis. He is one win away from Margaret Court's all-time record (11 Open era wins). This excites Nole going into Wimbledon.

According to Vietnamnet

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