Novak Djokovic battled back from two sets down against Stefanos Tsitsipas to win the French Open on Sunday.
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The Serb’s 6-7 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win, in more than four hours, saw him clinch his 19th Grand Slam title. He is now one short of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s tally of 20 majors.
HOW?! 🤯
🎥: @rolandgarros | @DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/7kwmpLY9FG
— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 13, 2021
The French Open title means Djokovic becomes the first man in the Open Era, and only the third in history, to win each of the four Grand Slams at least twice.
Rod Laver and Roy Emerson are the only two men to have won a career Grand Slam twice before this. While Federer has won one title at Roland Garros, Nadal has won once at the Australian Open.
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The journey to Parisian glory was anything but easy for Djokovic, who also had to battle back from two sets to love against Lorenzo Musetti in the fourth round.
He then overcame arguably the biggest test of all, taking down 13-time champion Nadal in a four-set classic for a place in the final.
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Djokovic, who trailed 0-5 in the opening set against Nadal and faced set point in the high-quality third set, needed four hours and 11 minutes to complete the 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2 triumph.
This was the first Grand Slam final for Tsitsipas.
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For Djokovic, this five-set win over the 22-year-old Greek helped him overcome the demons of last year’s French Open, when he went down meekly to Nadal in the final.
The Serb has now won the first two majors of the year.
Physically and mentally dominant. Hardest player in history to attack through the court. No holes in his game. No holes physically. Can’t break his mental belief …… Well deserved @DjokerNole
— andyroddick (@andyroddick) June 13, 2021
On Sunday, he became just the sixth player in the Open Era to turn around a two-set deficit in a Grand Slam final, and the first to do it at Roland Garros since Gaston Gaudio’s 2004 turnaround against Guillermo Coria.
