As the holder since Sunday of all four grand slam titles, Novak Djokovic has no equal in tennis, but as an artist he isn’t quite up to scratch – or so said perennial Roland Garros favourite Gustavo Kuerten.
Advertisement
Djokovic won 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-4 to defeat his arch rival who made history as the Britain’s first male finalist in Paris since 1937.
Playing in his 20th final at the majors and sixth in succession, the Serb superstar also became the first man since Jim Courier in 1992 to win the Australian and French Opens back-to-back.
Djokovic took control and scored three consecutive points, then deals with Murray’s responses and earns the third set for himself.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic stands in the way between the 29-year-old Scot and La Coupe des Mousquetaires – the tournament’s famous trophy. He got annoyed at the chair umpire.
All in all, it sounded as if this were Belgrade, rather than a neutral site, and Murray complained that fans were calling out between his first and second serves.
Djokovic, who is now on a 28-match winning streak in grand slams, broke to love to lead 5-2.
Three years ago, it was Murray who served for the title which meant the most-Wimbledon.
The eventual champion got off to a slow start, dropping the opening set to Murray 3-6.
Djokovic was the clear crowd favourite in his fourth final here and Murray repeatedly complained about the noise. But Djokovic, perhaps feeling the enormity of the moment, double-faulted and Murray hit a forehand victor to win the game.
That could be a good omen for Murray: He has never beaten Djokovic after losing the first set in their 33 previous matches. If Federer and Nadal hadn’t been around, Djokovic probably would have won many more majors by 2010.
But to do that he would have to do what he did in the Italian capital – play aggressive, mix it up and get under Djokovic’s skin. His fourth French Open final was the charm.
The karma finally changed for the No. 1-ranked Djokovic on his 12th visit to this charming venue.
‘I’d like to thank all the crowd, it was a fantastic atmosphere today.
“Novak is trying to win the career slam, it’s obviously a huge match for him, and me trying to win my first French Open”. Those ahead of him are Pete Sampras and Rafael Nadal on 14 and Federer on 17. “It hasn’t happened for an extremely long time, and it’s going to take a long time to happen again”.
He told him: “It was a pleasure to play against you once more, to share very special moments on the court”.
When Djokovic slid to reach a drop shot and somehow crafted a cross-court backhand victor at an impossible angle to go up 4-1 in the third, he raised his right index finger.
Murray had a lot to do as Djokovic doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.
Although Djokovic came into Sunday’s clash on Court Philippe Chatrier having won the last three slams, taking his overall tally to 11, success at Roland Garros had eluded him – the Serbian falling at the final hurdle in 2012, 2014 and 2015.
Advertisement
– The Serb would also become only the eighth man – and, at 29, the second oldest after Andre Agassi – to complete the collection of all four titles in their careers. Djokovic, already convinced there should have been a double-fault there, maintained the point should be replayed.
