INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: Novak Djokovic on Sunday created history by winning a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title at the French Open
In the summit clash, Djokovic defeated Norway's Casper Ruud in straight sets 7-6 (1), 6-3, 7-5 to win his third Roland Garros title.The
36-year-old surpassed his long-time rival on the court, Rafael Nadal to become the most successful male tennis player in history
As it happened: Novak Djokovic vs Casper RuudThe third title in Paris also made Djokovic the only male player to win all the four Grand
Slams titles at least three times, reinforcing his case to be crowned the greatest of all time
He now has three French Open titles to add to his 10 Australian Open titles, seven at Wimbledon and three at the US Open.The success left
Djokovic once again halfway to the first calendar Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969.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 his 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.On Monday, he will reclaim the
world number ranking and start his 388th week in top spot.The sense of Sunday'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.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.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 breakpoint 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.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.(With inputs from AFP)
