How Djokovic confirmed his Grand Slam greatness

The 36-year-old Serbian is now the oldest French Open champion and the first player to win more than 10 Grand Slams after the age of 30

- Deepti Patwardhan

The jeers started in the third set. Casper Ruud had regained some of that first-set spunk and made a 0-30 dent on Novak Djokovic’s serve in the seventh game, with the set poised on serve at 3-4. The Serb got out of a tough rally as his forehand caught the tape and bounced onto Ruud’s side of the court. ‘Booooo.’

A few moments later Djokovic was given a time violation for not serving before the shot clock ran out – Ruud had already raised the issue of Djokovic’s slow serving with the chair umpire before. ‘Booooo.’ Djokovic gathered himself as the loose red clay flew in the swirling breeze and closed out the game with an ace down the T. He glared around the stadium, raised and wagged his racquet.

The notorious French crowd, with neither Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal to get behind, had heckled players more boisterously than ever. They had been particularly harsh on Djokovic, when he lost points, when he won points, even when he pumped his fists in an otherwise tame celebration after beating Carlos Alcaraz in arguably the toughest match of his French Open campaign. The Serb’s response was: “I don’t mind; I just keep winning.” The lounder they jeered, the stronger he got. That summed up his 2023 French Open and almost his entire career. He’s done trying to become the people’s favourite. He’s playing for history.

Djokovic defeated Casper Ruud, playing his third final in last five majors, 7-6 (1), 6-3, 7-5 in the final to clinch his 23rd major and pull ahead of Rafael Nadal in the race for most Grand Slam titles. While Nadal, sidelined with injury, has 22 majors to his name, the retired Roger Federer has 20.