Novak Djokovic overcame a lightning-fast start from Casper Ruud to lead Sunday’s championship match at Roland Garros, where the Serbian dug deep in trademark fashion to claim the opening set 7-6 (1).
Djokovic moved to 6-0 in tie-breaks at Roland Garros this year to prevail in a set in which he had earlier trailed 1-4. Despite struggling to consistently produce his best level on Court Philippe-Chatrier, the Serbian raised his game spectacularly in the tie-break with clean, powerful hitting to force Ruud into a series of errors.
Djokovic is now just two sets from claiming a record 23rd major title. The 36-year-old, who is a two-time titlist at Roland Garros, will also reclaim the No. 1 spot in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings from Carlos Alcaraz should he defeat Ruud.
With NFL legend Tom Brady cheering him on from his player’s box, Djokovic saved two break points in the second game with a pair of hammered forehands but then miscued an overhead long to hand Ruud an early break. Djokovic reclaimed the break in the seventh game after the Norwegian returned the favour in the seventh game by netting a smash of his own.
NFL legend Tom Brady watches the Roland Garros final from Novak Djokovic's player's box on Sunday in Paris. Photo: Peter Staples/ATP Tour.
The fourth-seeded Ruud deployed plenty of variety in his groundstrokes to disrupt Djokovic’s rhythm, powering many of them with ferocious power but also sending back a series of looping balls that regularly drew errors from the Serbian. Djokovic drastically reduced his errors as the set wore on however, and continued his stunning form in tie-breaks to move ahead.
Across the six tie-breaks he has played at Roland Garros this year, Djokovic is now 42-13 in points having made 0 unforced errors. According to Infosys ATP Stats, Djokovic has moved into the lead on the Open Era leaderboard for tie-break winning percentage with his streak at Roland Garros. The way he stepped up on return was crucial to him securing his latest tie-break win, as he notched three mini-breaks to move to 9-0 in sets at Tour-level against Ruud.
More to follow…