French Open triumph rockets Djokovic into another stratosphere

Only Novak Djokovic could catapult the French Open into an existential hinterland. A tournament that has been Rafael Nadal’s realm since 2005 ultimately became Djokovic’s launchpad into legend during two ferociously hot weeks in spring.

With his third French Open title, Novak Djokovic became the most successful male tennis player with a 23rd trophy at one of the four Grand Slam tournaments. © Pierre René-Worms/RFI

The 36-year-old Serb carved his way through the top half of the  men's singles draw and met the challenge of the world number one Carlos Alcaraz with guile and metaphysics - the impact of collective memory on the psyche of youngsters.

Historical heft effectively did for Alcaraz. The 20-year old admitted that playing Djokovic in the semis at the French Open - and with all that he had achieved - increased the pressure and his body cramped up after two hours of bludgeons.

The boy-man king upended by the ultimate ramrod: mystique. How that intangible must have touched the veteran. 

"Early in my career I was struggling quite a bit physically," recalled Djokovic.

"I can understand the emotions and circumstances that affect you mentally and emotionally.

"Being in one of the greatest tournaments of the world, maybe for the first time in his career he was expected to win.

"He was maybe not an underdog chasing the title and trying to win against a favorite, but it was probably the other way around.

"So maybe that affected him ... and as he said, it probably did."

Such self-serving sympathy.  

Mind

If the next big thing in tennis could be so unhinged, what hope for Casper Ruud?

The 24-year-old Norwegian, playing in his his second consecutive French Open final, started magnificently but was deconstructed over three hours and 13 minutes in front of 15,000 people.

Djokovic won this third French Open title 7-6, 6-3, 7-5 on Sunday afternoon and duly passed into history.

A record 23rd singles title at the four grand slam tournament in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York. The only man to have won at least three titles at each of those hallowed sites. 

And the latest triumph will return him to the peak of the ATP rankings where he has already reigned for a record total of 387 weeks.

A 2.3 million euro winners chèque? Popcorn for an athlete who has garnered 170 million euros in prize money alone. 

"The Grand Slams are what drives me the most," Djokovic admitted. "When I wake up in the morning and think about the season and think about things I want to achieve. "

Objective

Victory number 23 - one better than Nadal who could not compete in Paris due to injury - leaves Djokovic half way to competing a calendar slam - winning at all four tournaments the same year.

Rod Laver pulled off the exploit twice in 1962 and 1969. Djokovic was denied the feat in 2021 when Daniil Medvedev beat him in the final at the US Open.

Pomped up after eclipsing Nadal at Roland Garros, Djokovic will head to Wimbledon with the aim of lifting an eighth title to equal the mark of his old foe Roger Federer and going to 24 - four clear of the retired Swiss maestro. 

And if Djokovic were to win on the grass courts set among some of the leafiest roads of south-west London, questions will be asked about the state of men’s tennis in which young contenders cannot cope with allure or an ageing player.

What are the mental coaches actually doing? Surely iconoclasm is lesson one? 

The women's champion, Iga Swiatek, has been working with hers, Daria Abramowicz, since early 2019 when she was swirling around outside the top 100.

The Prague Open was one of their very first collaborations. The tournament ended in a first round defeat to a 22-year-old Czech Karolína Muchova who came from a set down to outwitt the teenage Pole in three sets. 

History

Injuries have robbed Muchova of consistency and opportunities in the big games in the intervening years.

That lack - coupled with Swiatek’s riposte to adversity - nudged her to victory in an enthralling women’s final that gave Swiatek a third French Open title in four years and her fourth Grand Slam trophy.

She also became only the sixth woman to successfully defend her crown in Paris since 1968 when the French Open allowed professionals to compete at the tournament. Not yet quite in the Djokovic line of achievement.

But not bad at 22-years-old. If Muchova stays fit she could, with her plethora of skills, be just as much of a threat to Swiatek’s push for supremacy as the big swingers Aryna Sabalenka and Elina Rybakina who might be a big three to rival Djokovic, Federer and Nadal.

"I don't really analyze that," said Swiatek. "I understand that fans love that kind of thing. I'm trying to just be focused on my work."

Organisers of the French Open failed to promote that idea of a dominant trio.

Sabalenka was the only woman to feature in the 10 night matches. The imbalance has opened up the French tennis federation and Amazon, the broadcaster of the night sessions, to accusations of sexism.

Naturally such charges have been rejected. Tournament director Amélie Mauresmo, abhorring quotias, maintains she is only interested in offering up the best match of the day.

But the line will come back to haunt the executives.

For now, the French Open marketing whizzes will be able to revel in a sun-kissed tournament and the wonders of worthy singles champions: Swiatek ascendant and a Djokovic turned Zeus.

What luck. After all that weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth about that Nadal bloke being injured.