Well, that's it for another year at the French Open. We have our two champions. For the women, it's number one ranked Iga Świątek, who looked downright dominant throughout this tournament. On the men's side, it is Novak Djokovic, who now ascends to the number one ranking once again, and will extend his already existing record for most time spent atop the rankings.
Świątek had to overcome a tough challenge by Karolína Muchová of Czechia. Świątek had not dropped a set entering the Women's Final, and at first, it looked like she might sweep her way to another title after she easily took the first set. But then Muchova stepped it up, taking the second set, and forcing a tough test in the third. Ultimately, however, Świątek outlasted her and prevailed 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.
This is the third French Open title that Świątek has won in the past four years. It also further entrenches her top ranking among women. Indeed, she now looks ready to possibly enjoy a long run as the top woman in tennis.
As for the men's side, it was an even more familiar face, and likely less of a surprise as to who came out on top, ultimately. Novak Djokovic reached the French Open Final by outlasting world number one Carlos Alcazar in the semifinal, setting up a showdown with Norwegian Casper Ruud.
Ruud exploded into prominence last year, reaching the final at both the French Open and the US Open. However, he lost to Nadal at the French, and then lost to Alcazar at the US Open. He was hoping to deny Djokovic, who was of course looking to make history. And at first, it looked like Ruud was ready, as he earned an early break and took a seemingly commanding 3-0 lead in the first set.
After Djokovic got past those early kinks, however, he was all business. He served 11 aces, won 80 percent of the points on his first serve, and 65 percent on his second serve. Perhaps most importantly, he converted 3 of his 10 break point chances, while Ruud only converted 1 of his 4 chances on break point. Also, Djokovic raised it to another level after forcing a first set tiebreak, dominating Ruud, Ruud continued to play tough, especially in the third set. However, this day belonged to the seasoned champion, who showed why he is considered the greatest tennis champion of all time by so many. Ultimately, Djokovic won this one 7-6 (7-1), 6-3, 7-5.
Novak Djokovic finally did what many of us expected him to do. He passed everyone else in men's tennis history to claim the status of the most decorated man in tennis history.
Djokovic did it on what traditionally was the surface that he struggled on the most: the terre battue of the clay courts, particularly at Roland-Garros, better known as the French Open. True, Rafa Nadal, who is considered the greatest clay court player in the history of the game, was forced to withdraw from this particular French Open due to injury. Still, that likely does not detract from this championship by Djokovic. After all, Djokovic has won here twice before already. And he defeated Nadal twice in this specific tournament. Nadal had accumulated a 112-3 career record at the French Open, but two of those losses were to Djokovic. So Djokovic stands as one of two men to ever have beaten Nadal at Roland-Garros, and also as the only man to have beaten him there twice.
That means that Djokovic raised La Coupe des Mousquetaires right on the center of the Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Stade Roland Garros for a third time in his career. Djokovic had been the first man to achieve a double career Grand Slam in singles tennis, although Nadal managed to match that feat when he won the Australian Open in 2022. Now, Djokovic becomes the first - and at least for now, the only - man in history to have won each of the Grand Slams three times each. This was his 23rd overall career Grand Slam Men's single title, which means that he now solely holds the record for most won by a man. And it was his 34th overall appearance in a Grand Slam final, which is the most by any man, and tied for the most overall with Chris Evert. He is the only man to have reached each of the Grand Slam finals at least seven times each. Also, we cannot forget that Djokovic also holds the record among both men and women for most time spent atop the singles rankings, with 388 weeks. That record will increase, since with this win, Djokovic assured himself the number one ranking again. He has a chance at reaching 400 total weeks. The next closest person would be Steffi Graf, who holds the record for of 377 total weeks as the number one ranked woman. Roger Federer is the next closest man, with 310 total weeks spent as number one. Among active men's players, Nadal has spent 209 total weeks atop the men's rankings.
All in all, it feels like this ends the debate as to who the greatest men's tennis player in history is. True, Nadal can still possibly win another Grand Slam, or possibly two or more. But given his injuries, that is difficult to predict, although much like Djokovic, you simply cannot count him out of it. Djokovic himself appears to have a serious chance of adding to his already record number of Grand Slams singles titles. He may still win one or two more, and possibly even more than that. Granted, he is 36 now, and became the oldest French Open champion this weekend. But it sure feels like he could still remain at or near the top for some time, at least a couple of years. If he adds to his already very impressive achievements, that would really be something. But he has already won more Grand Slams than any other man in history, holds the record for most overall weeks as the world number one ranked player, has finished as the number one at the end of seven different years (also a record), and also won 93 singles titles overall, including a record 67 Big Titles (23 Grand Slams and 38 Masters titles). He is the only man to have won four consecutive Grand Slam championships (non-calendar) on three different playing surfaces. The list of achievements just goes on and on and, again, it still feels likely that he will be strong enough to see these records grow even stronger still.
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