Novak Djokovic is the king of the men’s side – at least for now.
The Serbian superstar knocked off Casper Ruud in straight sets 7-6 (7-1), 6-3, 7-5 on Sunday for his 23rd Grand Slam title and third at the French Open.
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Djokovic had to rally to beat Ruud in the first set. He was down 3-0 when he rallied and forced a tiebreaker. He appeared to own Ruud from there and showed his dominance in the final two games of the third set with incredible cross-court shots just out of the reach of the Norwegian star.
Djokovic was tied with Rafael Nadal with 22 Grand Slam titles. Nadal won the 2022 French Open over Ruud in straight sets as well. It was his 14th championship on the clay court. But since last June, Djokovic had won two more Grand Slam titles – 2022 Wimbledon and 2023 Australian Open – to gain on Nadal.
Djokovic came into the tournament as the No. 3 seed. Nadal was forced out of the tournament with an injury. Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev were seeded Nos. 1 and 2, respectively.
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He had to top Aleksander Kovacevic, Marton Fucsovics, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, JP Varillas, Karen Khachanov and Alcaraz before he could get to Ruud. He didn’t lose a set until Khachanov beat him in the first one during their quarterfinals matchup. He then beat Alcaraz in four sets.
Djokovic will now look to Wimbledon in July for a third Grand Slam title in the calendar year. He will also get to play the U.S. Open later this summer as the United States dropped its COVID vaccine mandate policy.
Ruud will have to wait again for a chance at a Grand Slam. It’s the third time in his career that he’s made the final of a Grand Slam and lost – back-to-back years at the French Open and last year at the U.S. Open.
At only 24 years old, Ruud has 10 career titles and a career record of 192-104.
