Novak Djokovic wins French Open, record 23rd Grand Slam men’s singles title, breaking the men’s record he shared with Rafael Nadal, a record that he may now own for a very long time.
Djokovic, a 36-year-old from Serbia, beat Norwegian Casper Ruud 7-6 (1), 6-3, 7-5 in Sunday’s final at Roland Garros.
“23 is a number that just a few years back was imposible to think about, and you made it!” Nadal posted on social media five minutes after match point.
Djokovic also broke Nadal’s record as the oldest French Open singles champion. He became the first man to win all four tennis majors at least three times, joining three women who did so (Serena Williams, Steffi Graf and Margaret Court).
When Djokovic lost his first Grand Slam final — the 2007 U.S. Open to Roger Federer — he noted that time was on his side as he sought to improve his game to overtake Federer (five years older) and Nadal (one year older)
Djokovic won his first major title four months later at the Australian Open — his first of a record 10 Australian Open titles. It took him another three years to win his second major, but starting in 2011 he has won 22 of his last 46 major starts.
Federer retired with 20 titles last year. Nadal, a record 14-time French Open champion, missed this year’s tournament due to a hip injury that required surgery that will force him to also miss Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. He said he plans to make 2024 his farewell year.
No other active man has more than three major titles. No active man younger than 36 has more than one major title.
For the third time, Djokovic has won the first two majors in the year, stoking talk of a possible calendar Grand Slam (winning all four majors in one year). Graf is the only singles player to accomplish that in the last 50 years.
He will likely go into Wimbledon in three weeks as an overwhelming favorite, having won it four times in a row and seven times overall. He is one shy of Federer’s men’s records there for total titles and consecutive titles.
A calendar Slam would also mean that Djokovic breaks the overall record for major singles titles. He is now tied with Williams and one behind Court, who accumulated some of her titles before the professional era began in 1968.
