With it, he completed a career Grand Slam, joining a group of seven other men, including Federer and Nadal.
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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.
Murray will also have the crowd behind him at SW19 which was far from the case today. I had that kind of emotion. Murray quickly held to build even more pressure for Djokovic’s 5-4 service game, but this time there would be no additional comeback for the underdog. I was struggling. I was a couple of points from going out of the tournament in the first round. It’s like my spirit has left my body and I was just observing my body fight the last three, four exchanges, going left to right and hoping that Andy will make a mistake, which has happened. “It’s a very special moment, the biggest of my career”, Djokovic told the crowd, which included the much-loved Brazilian champion, after capturing his 12th grand slam title.
“Winning it, you know, I felt it”, Djokovic said. You know, I entered the court quite prepared.
While he could feel frustrated that Federer, Nadal, with 14, and to a lesser extent Murray, who has won two, deprived him of more Grand Slam titles, Djokovic believes the rivalries within the “Big Four” have made him a better player, and tennis a better sport. He is now the one of only three men to hold all four major titles at the same time, and the first since Rod Laver almost half-a-century ago. “It’s so rare in tennis, and for me personally, it sucks to lose the match, but I’m proud to have been part of today”. Djokovic on his quest for the Calendar Grand Slam.
Djokovic could not have played a better first game, landing a ideal drop shot at the end of a long opening rally and breaking the Scot to love. He had Murray on the ropes, but truthfully it didn’t matter who he was playing against at that point.
Every game presents a new challenge and every set is completely separate from the previous one.
Chants of “Nole, Nole” – Djokovic’s nickname – encircled Philippe Chatrier court when the players were introduced.
The top seed remained ruthlessly dialled-in, broke again for 5-1 and levelled the final when Murray dumped a service return into the net.
The 29-year-old Djokovic, who won a break in the very first game but was broken back in the next though having saved three break points, failed to hold his own game until 40 minutes into the final in the sixth game.
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But after Djokovic saved a break point in the first game of the second set, things started to swing the Serb’s way, and he instantly switched gears. After that Djokovic sailed with relative ease until a late comeback attempt by Murray in the fourth set brought it to 5-4. However, there was still time for a twist as he cracked when serving for the title before finally sealing the triumph after three hours on court.
