Novak Djokovic finally broke through at the French Open winning at Roland Garros for the first in his 12th try and completing the career Grand Slam.
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Rod Laver won all the four titles in 1969 for the last time.
“We’re all humans, and arriving so close like never before in my life to this trophy and winning it, I felt it”.
“I’m just so overwhelmed with having this trophy next me that I’m just trying to enjoy this moment”. It could be that he follows up this non-calendar year slam with a full Grand Slam, or with a gold medal in Rio, or with both.
Djokovic’s victory is already being headlined with him securing his epic quest for the final piece of the Career Grand Slam jigsaw puzzle, but it should be a footnote to the biggest outcome of his French Open victory.
The Serb saved four break points to go to 5-1 before securing the set against a weary-looking Murray who had spent five hours longer on court than Djokovic and played two five-setters in the opening rounds to get to his first French Open final. “What he has achieved the last 12 months is phenomenal”, said Murray, who had been hoping to become the first British man in 81 years to win the claycourt major.
With victories in Australia and France already under his belt in 2016, he now heads to Wimbledon and then NY for the US Open in an attempt to complete the clean sweep.
Capitalising on Djokovic’s 13 unforced errors, Murray took the first set 6-3 in 46 minutes. In 2014, she handed Williams the worst loss of her Grand Slam career with a 6-2, 6-2 victory in the second round.
“I drew the heart on the court, like Guga, which he gave me permission to do”, Djokovic said.
Djokovic has now won 28 consecutive Grand Slam matches, which is an all-time record for men.
“Well, a lot has been going on in my mind ever since I arrived in Paris, but I felt like this year when I arrived that it’s really different from any other year”.
“It’s a very special moment, possibly the biggest moment in my career”, said the 29-year-old, who had lost his previous three finals on the Paris clay.
It now means he has won just two of the 10 grand slam finals he has appeared in, a return of just 20%. Soon it was 5-2 and Djokovic was serving for title at 5-2.
That has left world number two Murray as Djokovic’s closest challenger.
Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez became the first all-Spanish team since Sergio Casal and Emilio Sanchez (1990) to win the Roland Garros men’s doubles title after downing Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 on Saturday.
But it’s hard for me to reflect on what has happened before and what’s gonna happen after.
Becoming the first British man to reach a singles final at Roland Garros since Bunny Austin in 1937 was something Murray never imagined he would be capable of until he found his clay-court form past year.
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“Against him, obviously if you’re letting the best players control points, that’s tough”.
