23 Grand Slams and counting: WATCH Novak Djokovic's heart-moving speech after lifting French Open 2023 title
“The four biggest tournaments that we have in our sport. Every single player dreams of being on this stage and winning the trophy at least once in their career. I’m beyond fortunate in my life to win 23 times, it’s an incredible feeling," said Novak Djokovic after being crowned French Open 2023 champion.
FollowAt Roland Garros on Sunday, Novak Djokovic broke new ground in men's tennis when he defeated Casper Ruud 7-6(1), 6-3, 7-5 to win a record 23rd major championship.
To complete his historic triumph at the French Open 2023, Djokovic overcame Ruud's strong start on Court-Philippe Chatrier. In the first set, where he was down 1-4, the third seed put on a masterful tie-break performance to win it. He then produced some of his best hitting of the past two days in the second and third sets en route to a three-hour, 13-minute victory.
“Obviously a Grand Slam is a Grand Slam,” said Djokovic at the trophy ceremony. “The four biggest tournaments that we have in our sport. Every single player dreams of being on this stage and winning the trophy at least once in their career. I’m beyond fortunate in my life to win 23 times, it’s an incredible feeling.”
WATCH Novak Djokovic's speech after lifting the French Open 2023 title:
With his victory, the three-time Roland Garros champion Djokovic also dethroned Rafael Nadal as the oldest Roland Garros victor at 36 years and 20 days old, reclaimed the top spot in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings from Carlos Alcaraz, and became the first person to win all four Grand Slam competitions at least three times.
After thwarting Ruud's first push, Djokovic scarcely looked back as he increased his advantage in their ATP Head2Head series to 5-0. While winning 80% (59/74) of the points after his first serve, the Serbian outhit the fourth seed by 52 winners to 31.
Ruud battled valiantly but was unable to sustain his dazzling start in his third final match in the past five major championships. After trailing 4-3 in the first set, Djokovic ruthlessly thwarted his opponent's attempts to rally, and the 24-year-old, who advanced to the finals of both the US Open and Roland Garros in 2022, did not gain more than two points in a return game.
“Another day, another record for you,” said Ruud, when addressing Djokovic at the trophy ceremony. “And another day you rewrite tennis history. It’s tough to explain how incredible it is and how good you are, and what an inspiration you are to so many people around the world. Congratulations to you and your team. I know this tastes probably the best out of all [of your major titles]... I’m happy I’m the first one to congratulate you here, from this stage.”
