Serbian star Novak Djokovic defeated fourth seeded Casper Ruud 7-6, 6-3, 7-5 in straight sets to emerge victorious in the Men’s Singles grand finale of the French Open 2023. Djokovic has thus won a record 23rd Grand Slam, which is the most by any male player in the history of the sport. Accordingly, he has surpassed Spaniard Rafael Nadal’s 22 Grand Slam wins. Ruud gave Djokovic a tough fight in the first and the third sets.
The first set was levelled at 6-6 before the Serb won the tiebreaker emphatically to gain a lead in the proceedings. He followed it up with a 6-3 win the second set before rounding off a convincing victory with a 7-5 finish to the third and decisive set.
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Djokovic has had an eventful run in this edition of the French Open. Most critics and observers tipped him to be the favourite to win the Men’s Singles after Nadal pulled out of the tournament due to a hip injury.
However, the 36-year-old stirred controversy by standing up for Kosovo amidst the violence that was underway there following his first-round victory against Aleksandar Kovacevic.
Defending that move, Djokovic had said that it is something that he truly stands for. Further, he even made a remark quipping that it is impossible for a drama-free Grand Slam to happen to him, referring to the earlier controversy of him being deported from the Australian Open 2022 due to his refusal to take the Covid-19 vaccine.
Djokovic battled boos repeatedly during the course of his French Open campaign this time around. However, he rose to the occasion when needed and first defeated World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-final before triumphing over Ruud in style to top the charts of men players with most Grand Slam titles in the history of the game.
