Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic celebrates advancing to the semifinals of the French Open in Paris, June 6, 2023.
Paris – Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic will attack in Sunday's Roland Garros final for a record 23rd Grand Slam title. The 36-year-old Serb will challenge last year's finalist Casper Ruud from Norway in the fight for a third triumph on the Paris clay. If successful, Djokovic will break away from the injured Spaniard Rafael Nadal at the head of historical statistics. The match will start on the Philippe Chatrier court at 15:00 CET.
Advertisement'; }
Photo gallery: French Open 2023 tennis tournament
Djokovic, the winner of the Australian Open in January, will return to the post of world number one ahead of Carlos Alcaraz if he wins. He beat an opponent sixteen years younger in Friday's semifinals 6:3, 5:7, 6:1, 6:1, but the Spaniard finished the match from the beginning of the third set with cramps.
“Obviously it was a victory under special circumstances, but a win is a win,” Djokovic said at a press conference. “I'm in an ideal position again to win a Grand Slam. That's basically what drives me when I wake up in the morning and think about what I want to achieve. I'm just focused on winning another title here on Sunday and I'm close. I know that feeling well. I've had it several times in my career,” he added.
Djokovic will face Ruud for the fifth time in his career and he hasn't lost a set against him yet. The last time he beat him was in the final of last year's Tournament of Champions 7:5, 6:3. He defeated his Norwegian rival twice, even on clay.
The native of Belgrade also drew attention to himself during the tournament with his behavior. After the opening duel with Aleksandar Kovacevic from the USA, he wrote a controversial message “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence.” Despite the criticism, he went unpunished. And then he dealt with occasional boos from the audience. “I'm not dealing with it. It's not the first time and it probably won't be the last. I'm just focused on winning,” he said.
Djokovic can repeat the triumphs of 2016 and 2021 in Paris, he was eliminated in the quarterfinals with Nadal last year. She will play in her 34th Grand Slam final, tying American Chris Evert's all-time record. He is fighting for the title at Roland Garros for the seventh time, only Nadal (14) has more final appearances. He also won the first 13 Grand Slam matches for the fifth time in his career.
“The pressure will always be on me, so this is no different. Experience will be on my side, but I don't think that will be the deciding factor. I have to pull myself together first and be ready for another long battle. And if I win, we can talk about history,” he added.
The 24-year-old Ruud will try to win his first Grand Slam title at the third attempt. Last year, he was not enough for Nadal in the Roland Garros final, and in September he lost to Alcaraz in the deciding match of the US Open. The native of Oslo is the fourth Scandinavian after Björn Borg, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg to reach at least three Grand Slam finals. I try to avoid the word 'need',” said Ruud. “Regardless of what happens on Sunday, I've had a great two weeks here. Of course I'm going to give it my all, but sometimes you play your best tennis when you don't think too much about it. I'm going there thinking it could be a long, marathon match and it will have to be played point by point. We'll see how it goes,” he added.
World No. 4 Ruud defeated Alexander Zverev 6:3, 6:4, 6:0 in the semifinals, before with the Dane Holger Run, the Chilean Nicolas Jarry, the Chinese Zhang Ch'chen, the Italian Giulio Zeppieri and the Swede Elias Ymer. He lost only three sets at the tournament, his opponent Djokovic one less.
The winner of the singles match will get 2.3 million euros (54.3 million crowns) to his account, the defeated finalist will get half the amount.< /p>
