History-maker Novak Djokovic claims 23rd Grand Slam title at French Open

Novak Djokovic stands alone at the pinnacle of men's tennis after defeating Casper Ruud to win his 23rd Grand Slam title at the French Open.

Since claiming his first at the Australian Open in 2008, Djokovic has been pursuing Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal through the history books but now he has surpassed both having broken the record he jointly held with Nadal.

Djokovic’s 7-6 (1) 6-3 7-5 victory over Ruud draws him level with Serena Williams and he could equal Margaret Court’s all-time singles mark at Wimbledon next month.

The Serbian, meanwhile, also becomes the first man ever to win at least three slam titles at all the major tournaments – a measure of his all-round greatness.

Ruud had impressed in making it back to the final, where he won only six games against Nadal last year, and was looking for his first title in his third final having also lost to Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open.

He had failed to win a set in four previous matches against Djokovic, though, and missed his chance here in an 81-minute opener before the Serbian pulled away for his 21st consecutive slam victory.

This was the most humid day of the fortnight and, with black clouds looming, it appeared the match would be played under the roof on Philippe Chatrier only for the cover to be removed just before the start.

Ruud’s best chance was to make a fast start and take advantage of the nerves Djokovic would surely be feeling so close to a goal he has been pursuing relentlessly for years.

On his only previous shot at striking out on his own, at the US Open in 2021, he had rather frozen in sight of the line, losing to Daniil Medvedev in the final.

Ruud had read the script and came out sharp, exploiting Djokovic’s unusually leaden footwork with high shots to push his