Author: Barkha Roy
Novak Djokovic reached a historic milestone in men’s tennis on Sunday at Roland Garros. The legendary Serbian player triumphed over Casper Ruud with a score of 7-6(1), 6-3, 7-5, securing an unprecedented 23rd major title. At the same time, Hsieh Su-Wei and Wang Xinyu showed remarkable resilience as they recovered from a set down to beat 10th-ranked Taylor Townsend and Leylah Fernandez 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 to win the women’s doubles championship at Roland Garros.
Djokovic emerged victorious in a tight contest against Ruud on Court Philippe-Chatrier, solidifying his historic win. Despite trailing 1-4 in the first set, the third seed showed exceptional skill in a captivating tie-break to secure the set. In the following sets, Djokovic showed his best form of the tournament, hitting powerful shots and dominating the match for three hours and thirteen minutes.
This triumph not only secured Djokovic his third Roland Garros title, but also took him back to the top of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, overtaking Carlos Alcaraz. In addition, at 36 years and 20 days old, Djokovic overtook Rafael Nadal as the oldest champion in Roland Garros history. He also became the first male player to win each of the four Grand Slam events at least three times.
After successfully neutralizing Ruud’s initial surge, Djokovic maintained control throughout the match, further extending his unbeaten record against the fourth seed to 5-0. With an impressive 52 winners compared to Ruud’s 31, Djokovic demonstrated a superior shooting ability. He also excelled on his first serve, winning 80% (59/74) of the points he played.
In a remarkable display of skill, Hsieh and Wang achieved an extraordinary feat at Roland Garros, emerging victorious in their second tournament together since forming the team in Strasbourg. Throughout the event, the pair stunned the competition by beating five seeded teams, culminating in the well-deserved doubles title of the season.
As well as beating Townsend/Fernandez, seeded 10th in the final, the unseeded duo overcame several formidable opponents on their way to success. They won against Schuurs/Krawcyzk, ranked 5th, Melichar-Martinez/Perez, ranked 6th, Zhang/Mladenovic, ranked 9th, and Kudermetova/Samsonova, ranked 15th. These impressive achievements demonstrated Hsieh and Wang’s ability to overcome challenging encounters and secure their place as deserving champions.