On Sunday Novak Djokovic beat Casper Ruud in the final of the 2023 Roland Garros, which won him his 23rd grand slam. A record high for men in the open era, he went above Rafael Nadal who currently has 22 grand slams. Many tennis fans around the world dispute who the GOAT is, however with this monumental title Novak Djokovic may just have cemented his legacy as the greatest of all time.
Djokovic had a relatively quiet tournament up to the semi-final: he didn't drop a single set until the quarter-final against Kachanov. Despite this dominance, he was still seen as the underdog when it came to his semi-final matchup against Carlos Alcaraz. The 20-year-old Spaniard has already shown signs of greatness, and he has seamlessly risen to the top of the tennis rankings. The semi-final matchup was destined to be an all-time classic, unfortunately, Alcaraz suffered from some cramping early on in the third set and received treatment. The first two sets had played out exactly as we tennis fans would have dreamed, however after Alcaraz's cramps, the match was no longer competitive and Djokovic wrapped it up in 4 sets, securing his spot in the final.
The other semi-final saw Alexander Zverev face off against Casper Ruud, despite Ruud's superior ranking he wasn't seen as a majority favourite, this match was predicted to be tightly contested. However it wasn't even close, the Norweigan obliterated his German opposition in 3 sets. This was familiar territory for Zverev at Roland Garros., as he was knocked out in the semi-finals, in both 2021 and 2022, the latter of which was due to a season-ending injury. For Ruud it was a fantastic result, he has now been to 3 grand slam finals out of the previous 5 that he has played.
When it came to the final, many thought that Djokovic would win with ease, counting on his vast experience and superb talent. Although the scoreline may reflect exactly that, the actual match wasn't a complete whitewash. Ruud took an early break and led the first set 3-0, Djokovic in the early stages didn't seem like the 22-time grand slam champion he is. He was slow on the court and slightly weary, he missed a few easy overheads and the momentum began to begin on Ruud's side. But the resilient Serb wasn't going to stop fighting, in another magnificent display of mental toughness he came back and took the set winning emphatically in the tiebreak 7-1.
The following 2 sets were simply a clinic, Ruud just could not keep up with the level of tennis being produced by the veteran Serb. Djokovic won the match in 3 sets to earn his 23rd Grand Slam and solidify himself as one of if not the, greatest of all time.