Bill Simons and Vinay Venkatesh
Paris
The last time Novak Djokovic had the weight of history on his shoulders, history spat at him. At the 2021 US Open, Novak could have claimed the record then for most Slams won (21) and captured the calendar Slam. But he came out flat and tight, and fell to Daniil Medvedev.
But on an overcast Paris afternoon, Nole at last got his day.
So, ladies and gentleman, it’s over. The door is closed. The debate is done, the conversation is finished.
At least for now.
Although he wouldn’t say so himself, the oh-so-gritty Serbian made it clear that he is the greatest tennis player of all time. After all, with his 7-6(1), 6-3, 7-5 victory over Casper Ruud, he surpassed his arch rival, Rafa Nadal, to gain his Serena-equaling record of 23 Slams. He’s now won the last three majors he’s played. And the Serb, who won Wimbledon last year and in three weeks will again be the favorite to win in London, has a tantalizing shot to claim the calendar Slam that eluded him two years ago.
And as we crown Nole, please don’t dare say that the new king of Paris was the beneficiary of great good fortune. Before Roland Garros began, a French headline read “Une terre sans roi.” In English that’s “a land without its king.” This year Rafa, who had downed Novak three times in French Open finals, was sidelined in Majorca.
But don’t argue that Nole was lucky. Sure, he and No. 1 seed Carlos Alcaraz had battled evenly through two scintillating sets before the Spanish colt pulled up lame.
And, please don’t contend that Djokovic had it easy in the final.
Yes, Novak had won four straight matches against Ruud, and the Norwegian had fallen tamely in three Slams in 12 months. But another European with a big forehand and not all that much charisma, Ivan Lendl, lost four major finals before collecting eight Slam titles.
Plus, you have to be fabulous just to reach a final. Clearly, Ruud is superb. The 24-year-old has youth and a forehand. This week he had impressive wins over Holger Rune and Alexander Zverev, and last September he was within three sets of being No. 1. But in all four of his previous matches against Djokovic, he hadn’t won a single set.
Yet Ruud came out of the gate unafraid and playing free, and offered the Serb a rude awakening.
He won a marathon 12-minute game and took a 3-0 lead, seeming to announce this would be no stroll in a French jardin.
At first, Djokovic’s play was spotty, surprisingly tentative and out of sorts. His overhead was a mess. While Ruud ran him to the corners and hit a brilliant tweener, Nole was edgy. He barked at the umpire, “Why are you rushing me?”
Of course, Novak makes mid-match adjustments, recharges and surges like no other. And, when Ruud blew an overhead, the match was again back on serve. As the hopeful Scandanavian and the sinewy Serb marched to the end of a marathon first set, Novak knew that winning the tiebreak was everything.
The man who had blasted a fabulous forehand when he was down to Roger Federer at the US Open, the warrior who’d come back from two match points down to win the 2019 Wimbledon, now unleashed an inspired, ferocious stretch forehand winner to start the tiebreak. He captured a cat-and-mouse point, then unleashed a 114-mph ace, as he took the tiebreak 7-1, and in a flash claimed the 1:21 match – the longest opening set in Roland Garros history.
There was no letting up. He hit a backhand winner to break and go up 2-0. His serve was mighty. Effortlessly he lifted his game and mercilessly pounded his baffled foe.
The once scrawny boy from an isolated Serbian village grew up as NATO bombs fell. He carried his family’s financial burdens and emerged when two almost divine champions (Roger and Rafa) were drawing adulation.
He was said to be a wimp who suffered from bird flu. But Novak scoffed at the doubters and battled on. He overcame injuries, built his body and will, and brushed aside hostile fans who chanted his foes’ names.
He took controversial stands and was ejected, banned and booed. But he evolved his game and showed his mettle as he claimed countless records and battled on, as Federer retired and the diminished Nadal and Murray struggled.
Today, Ruud occasionally had moments of hope. But the fierce Serbian veteran snuffed them all out with a ruthless certainty. A commanding legend overcame a crisis and maintained his edge against a game wannabe who ran out of answers.
After 3:13 a Ruud forehand drifted wide and Nole claimed his third Roland Garros title. He reclaimed the No. 1 ranking and became the first man to win each of the four Slams three times. Overwhelmed, he fell to the red clay, the surface that had been such a perplexing challenge for him. To him his triumph “symbolized a great battle within myself.”
Soon he was embracing his beloved team in the friends box and thanking his gracious foe.
Then he was handed the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy from the French legend Yannick Noah, who once told the world, “I like people who live life with a passion. And in tennis, as in life, I think everyone should go to the net. Take risks…attack and live dangerously!”
Djokovic then thanked Ruud for having the right life values and recalled his own journey: “I was a 7-year-old dreaming I could win Wimbledon and be No. 1. I had the power to create my own destiny. I felt I could visualize it.” He told the kids of the world, “If you want a better future, believe it, create it. I believed it in every single cell in my body.”
Deep in today’s epic battle, a golden light bathed Court Philippe-Chatrier. The sun pierced through white puffs of clouds, and cathedral-like rays of light descended. And we knew why.
The tennis gods wanted to take a peek at the man, the myth and the legend of Novak Djokovic, who before us reached the heights of athletic achievement and did what no other man had ever done.
