"You must never write Djokovic off" - Another act of unleashing in the Paris final
Novak Djokovic won his 19th Grand Slam title on Sunday evening - and continued to catch up with his great rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Jun 13, 2021, 11:37 pm
Stefanos Tsitsipas had almost made it to the tennis Olympus, his hero role for the first Greek Grand Slam champion was almost written in the sand of Paris. But after the very last battle of attrition of the dramatic French Open in 2021, there was no completely new Roland Garros king, no young, radiant winner.
In the final marathon, the number 1, the captain of the industry - Novak Djokovic, one of the ranks of honorable gentlemen in the already very mature professional age, won. The older men will not give up, Djokovic's Houdini unleashing action was from a frustrating 0: 2 set deficit to the heavily acclaimed 6: 7 (6: 8), 2: 6, 6: 3, 6: 2, 6: 4 triumph the striking proof of the steadfastness of the Big Three faction (Federer / Nadal / Djokovic), which has now won 55 of the last 64 Grand Slam titles.
Becker: "You must never copy Djokovic"
“I am completely exhausted, but infinitely happy. It is a moment that you want to hold on to for a long time, "said the 34-year-old Serb, who after 242 grueling, gripping, moving minutes raised his hands to the sky and successfully competed in the Grand Slam for the second time in his career with the match comeback. The realm of the Spanish matador Rafael Nadal had poached. He had defeated him, the thirteen-time winner, in a spectacle for eternity on Friday. And now the undaunted "Djoker" with Tsitsipas had also defeated a player who was moving up to the top and who is expected to have a leading position in world tennis for the future. Little consolation for the defeated Hellenic: He will climb a new career high in the current world rankings published on Monday by jumping to fourth place.
But Tsitsipas would of course have preferred the first Grand Slam title, the first win against a number 1 or number 2 player in his career. The conqueror of Alexander Zverev in the semifinals seemed long on the way to conjure up a veritable sensation from his racket and snub the favored Djokovic. But Tsitsipas' breath, his creativity, his improvisational skills and massive physical presence were only enough for two brilliant sentences - two sentences in which he slammed all possible and impossible winners into the opposing half and tore the audience from their sentences. Even in the grueling baseline duels with Djokovic, the master of suppleness and endurance, the 22-year-old was often in control of the action. TV expert Boris Becker said that the Greek's performance was “outstanding”, “but it's a match with three sets of wins. And one thing is clear: you must never copy Djokovic. "
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Djokovic breaks Tsitsipas' morale and physique
Becker had to know: he was Djokovic's trainer when he won the French Open Championships for the first time in 2016 and triumphantly mastered the most challenging ordeal in the tennis cosmos. From the third set on, Djokovic suddenly became Djokovic himself, this almost unreal figure who can hit the craziest balls from the craziest angles. The player who decides the contested rallies for himself with irritating naturalness, does not reveal an inch of ground and knows an answer to all tests.
If the first set took 70 minutes until Tsitsipas took the lead, Djokovic turned his 0-2 set deficit within 88 minutes to equalize 2-2. Tsitsipas not only lost the games in series, but also lost their morale a little. In addition, the Greek had to take a longer treatment break because of back problems at the beginning of the fourth movement. But the tough endgame debutant couldn't just be pushed away. Tsitsipas fought hard again, mobilized the last of his strength, but it wasn't enough against the probably fittest player of the tour. The break to 2-1 for Djokovic finally ushered in the end in the last sentence.
Djokovic on the way to the Grand Slam?
Djokovic has come one step closer to his goal of overtaking the two biggest rivals of his career, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, in the bare facts and figures. With the French Open victory, he now has 19 Grand Slam titles in his portfolio, just one victory behind Nadal and Federer with 20 wins each. The 34-year-old now has a top score in the modern tennis era exclusively for himself - he is the only player to have won each of the four Grand Slam tournaments at least twice.
Djokovic could land an even bigger coup later in the season - by winning the real Grand Slam, all four majors in one tennis year. Nothing seems impossible, not even this goal, at which the greatest of the past decades all failed. Also Björn Borg and Jim Courier, who presented Djokovic with the Musketeer Cup in the evening sun of Paris.