After years of near misses, Novak Djokovic finally conquered mount Roland Garros on Sunday to win the one trophy he craved like no other – a maiden French Open title that elevated him into the pantheon of tennis greats.
Advertisement
On Sunday, the Musketeers’ Cup was his at last as he broke Andy Murray’s resistance with a 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-4 victory that not only completed his grand slam collection but also made him the first man in almost half a century to hold all four majors at once.
Djokovic fell back on the clay in delight and relief after requiring two breaks of serve and four match points in a desperately tense end to the final.
The world number two was trying to become the first British man to win the tournament since Fred Perry 81 years ago.
Djokovic lay flat on his back in the clay as he soaked in his achievement.
The Serbian, who now has 12 slam titles, said: “You train as a professional athlete to always be in the moment and focus on the next point and not care too much about what’s in the past or what is coming up because you can’t influence that”.
Murray apologised for not speaking French before thanking his team and the crowd.
Addressing the man born just a week later who he first played as an 11-year-old, Murray said: “T o Novak, this is his day today”. His last loss in a Grand Slam was in last year’s French Open final to Stan Wawrinka. “It hasn’t happened for an extremely long time, and it’s going to take a long time to happen again”.
It certainly “sucked” for Murray when he was broken in the very first game to love.
He first reached the semi-finals in 2007 and now, nine years and four finals later, finally the Coupe des Mousquetaries is his.
Murray needed his first-serve percentage to be over 60 but instead, it only just crept above 50.
The only time Murray’s focus wavered was when he became distracted by French TV journalist Nelson Monfort sitting in his box, yelling and gesticulating until he left.
More drama followed when he served for the set at 5-3.
The spectators really raised a ruckus when a Murray serve was called a fault by a linesman, immediately overruled by chair umpire Damien Dumusois.
But Murray then netted a backhand after a lengthy rally and Djokovic’s place in the history books was confirmed.
The Serb has faced a fifth break point in the opening game of the second set following a brilliant forehand attack from Andy Murray.
With a 5-2 lead in the fourth set, and his friends and supporters preparing to celebrate in the stands, Djokovic suffered a tortuous few minutes as Murray refused to give up.
He says after a shaky start he found his groove and hit a level that Murray simply couldn’t deal with.
“He’s there, for sure – one of the best now”, said Marian Vajda, Djokovic’s co-coach with Boris Becker, one of the many stars of the sport who never won the French Open. With those two icons both gone from the draw after two matches, Djokovic finally got his wish.
Murray should have had an advantage physically, given Djokovic had to play four days in a row because of the very bad weather in Paris.
Advertisement
Murray remained in charge, finding time to loudly berate a French television interviewer for climbing uninvited into his player’s box overlooking the court. “That’s tough and I wasn’t able to dictate enough points after the beginning of the match”.
