By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, June 5, 2016
Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray to claim his first French Open title and complete the career Grand Slam with his 12th career major championship.
Photo credit: Getty
Roland Garros clay had loomed as a major slippery slope for Novak Djokovic.
Today, Djokovic soared over his final Grand Slam hurdle into history.
Watch: Djokovic Carves A Beauty in Roland Garros Final
The world No. 1 tamed the stubborn surface and a tenacious rival defeating Andy Murray, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, to capture his first Roland Garros title and complete the career Grand Slam.
Djokovic joined the giants of the game capturing his fourth consecutive Grand Slam crown and 12th major title. He joins Don Budge and Rod Laver as only the third man in history to hold all four major championships simultaneously—47 years after Laver completed the feat.
Contesting his 12th French Open, the man who endured the dark days of three final losses in Paris converted his third championship point splashing onto the salmon-colored court when Murray's final backhand expired into net.
After a soggy two weeks where record-setting rain, the sun burst through blue skies as the trophy presentation ceremony began as if nature itself was providing a special-effects sky to celebrate Djokovic's crowning moment.
"It's an amazing moment. I'm really grateful for this moment," a beaming Djokovic told NBC's John McEnroe afterward. "I'm very grateful for the (fans') support. To be able to close it out like this in front of a packed house with the sun coming out after 10 days is truly remarkable."
The 29-year-old Djokovic is the eighth man to complete the career Grand Slam joining an elite group of champions: Don Budge, Fred Perry, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic and Murray were born a week apart, grew into junior rivals and have shared the court as practice partners, but the Serbian showed no benevolence beating Murray for the 13th time in their last 15 meetings to take a 24-10 lead in their rivalry.
Blown back off the baseline midway through the match, the world No. 2 fought gallantly from 2-5 down in the fourth set, staving off a pair of championship points. Murray could not stop his old rival's surge toward history.
"What Novak's achieved today is phenomenal," Murray said afterward. "Winning all four of the Grand Slams in one year is an amazing achievement. This is something that's so rare in tennis it has not happened for an extremely long time and it's not going to happen again for a long time.
"Me personally being on the opposite side it sucks to lose the match, but I'm proud to have been a part of it today."
Oppressive depth from Djokovic combined with his own obstinance trying to grind baseline points against and an overwhelmingly pro-Djokovic crowd conspired to drain Murray. Djokovic converted seven of 14 break points and hit 41 winners compared to 23 for Murray, who was pushed into defensive positions as the match progressed.
Rhythmic chants of "Nole! Nole!" reverberated throughout Court Philippe Chatrier before first ball was struck.
Initially, Djokovic answered the call, pricking his opponent's defense with two drop shots then smacking a forehand return to break at love in the opening game.
A side-spinning drop shot dragged Djokovic forward, Murray looped a lob winner over his head to break back. Djokovic looked jittery and struggled to control his forehand as Murray went on a surge winning 10 of 11 points backing up a love hold with his second straight break for 3-1.
Fighting through an eight-minute hold, Murray withstood a three-deuce game holding for 5-2 with a firm "come on!"
The crowd injected itself into the drama when Murray served for the set. His slice serve was incorrectly called out, chair umpire Damien Dumusois inspected the mark, overruled and awarded Murray the point prompting protest from Djokovic and repeated whistles from the pro-Djokovic contingent.
On his third set point, Murray snatched the 46-minute opener when Djokovic netted a backhand.
The typically clean-hitting top seed more than doubled the second seed's error output, 13 to 6, in the set.
The battle for court positioning—combined with the nimble court coverage of both men—created extended rallies as Djokovic denied break point to start the second set.
Ultimately, Djokovic beat Murray to the ball and beat him up in baseline rallies.
Mounting pressure and the vocal crowd both antagonized Murray, who clipped the tape with a drop shot and double-faulted donating the break and a 2-0 lead.
Testing Murray's legs and lungs with teasing drop shots throughout the match, Djokovic ladled a forehand drop volley holding for 4-1. The combination of heavy topspin depth to displace Murray followed by soft-angled drop shots to elude him did major damage as the match progressed.
Apart from his brief tiff with the chair umpire, Djokovic hadn't displayed much emotion to that point. He fired fans up with a soft drop shot followed by a crackling two-hander down the line to break again, raising a clenched fist spiking a sustained roar from fans. Djokovic breezed through the final three games to take the 33-minute second set.
The world No. 1 settled in working cross-court combinations to make Murray defend on the run and mount the mileage on the first-time finalist's legs. It was Murray's nerve, rather than his body, that cracked first. He bumped a routine volley into the tape handing Djokovic the break and 2-1 third-set lead.
Sliding into a smooth-angled backhand slice, Djokovic broke for the fifth time extending to 4-1. Fighting off break points in the longest game of the match, Djokovic reeled off his fifth consecutive game leaving Murray staring at his strings as if wondering how all his efforts came up empty.
"He did play extremely well. Gave me very few errors," Murray said. "Started hitting the ball a bit close to the lines, and I was sort of dropping a bit far back behind the baseline. Against him, obviously if you're letting the best players control points, that's tough. I wasn't able to dictate enough points after the beginning of the match, and made it tough."
Channeling sprinter's speed with a contortionist's body control, Djokovic shrank open court space from his opponent squeezing errors from Murray in the fourth set. Curling a crosscourt forehand that pushed the sliding Scot into the doubles alley, Djokovic drilled a forehand winner down the line breaking for 5-2 in the fourth set.
The man who fell to former finalist Guillermo Coria in his Paris debut 11 years ago was four points from the career Grand Slam.
Coronation had to wait as Murray belted a forehand winner breaking back for 3-5.
Serving for the Slam again, the moment weighed as Djokovic double faulted on his first championship point and sprayed a backhand on his second.
A 21-shot rally unfolded on the third championship point and when Murray netted a backhand, Djokovic fell flat on his back closing out a three hour, three-minute triumph. Rising to trace a heart on the clay with his racquet in a tribute to his friend and fellow Roland Garros champion Guga Kuerten.
"We're all humans, and arriving so close like never before in my life to this trophy and winning it," Djokovic said. "I felt it. I felt the tension and excitement, all the emotions. You name it. In the last point I don't even remember what happened. It was really one of those moments where you just try to be there.
"It's like my spirit has left my body and I was just observing my body, you know, fight the last three, four exchanges, you know, going left to right and hoping that Andy will make a mistake, which has happened. And, yeah, a thrilling moment. One of the most beautiful I have had in my career."
Minutes after the match, Djokovic tossed his match racquet into the crowd and handed another stick to a kid near the front row before calling the ball girls onto court to help him salute the crowd.
Finally crossing the French Open finish line alone, Djokovic brought the Chatrier crowd along for a festive ride and shared the joy of the celebration.
The adventure—and quest for the calendar Grand Slam—continues at Wimbledon later this month.
"I don't want to sound arrogant, but I really think everything is achievable in life," Djokovic said of the calendar Slam. "You know, winning this trophy today gave me so much happiness and fulfillment. I'm trying to grasp and I'm trying to cherish, obviously, these moments right now."
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