Novak Djokovic became just the fifth player in the open era to complete the career grand slam on Monday, when Andy Murray sent a backhand into the net on a third match point. Djokovic fell to the court onto his back, threw his arms into the air and yelled in celebration knowing that the Coupe des Mousquetaires was finally his.
The world No. 1 captured his first French Open title coming from behind to beat No. 2-ranked Andy Murray 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.
Winning at Roland Garros has given Djokovic current hold to all four major titles, which is something that hasn’t been done since Rod Laver did it in 1969. He won both Wimbledon and the US Open last year, as well as this year’s Australian Open.
His titles the Australian and French Open this year make him the first men’s player to win the sport’s first two majors in the calendar year since Jim Courier did it in 1992. Novak has had plentiful success in recent years at Roland Garros, albeit never winning. He made the French Open championship in 2012, 2014 and 2015, but came up short in each of those matches.
Roland Garros seemed all out of sorts this year, with Roger Federer not competing, the injury to Nadal and what seemed to be never-ending rain, but Djokovic battled through the harsh weather and thick clay in route to the title.
He defeated Yen-Hsun Lu, Steve Darcis and Aljaz Bedene in straight sets in the first, second and third rounds before being tested in the fourth round by No. 14-ranked Roberto Bautista Agut. He fought through rain delays and exhaustion, as he fell behind early, but Djokovic came back to win the match 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5.
His best performances of the tournament came in the quarterfinals and semifinals versus No-7 Tomas Berdych and No-13 Dominic Thiem, winning both matches in straight sets 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 and 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 respectively.
The French Open victory gave Djokovic his 12th grand slam title, which ranks him fourth all-time behind only Federer (17), Nadal (14) and Pete Sampras (14) in the open era. Novak now has claim to be in conversation among the greatest of all time, as he has been the most dominant player in the past few seasons.
Djokovic is an astounding 59-2 in his last eight majors, which is something no one has ever accomplished in the history of the sport.
In Djokovic’s last 22 tournaments, he has made it to 21 finals and won 16 titles. He has only lost nine matches in his remarkable run and will look to continue his hot streak going into Wimbledon; a place he has won three times, including the past two years consecutively.
No matter how he performs in the future, Novak Djokovic has made his mark in tennis history as one of the greatest to ever play the sport.
