Sporting heroes, like celebrated authors, have a devoted following. With time, as tastes become more defined, the fandom narrows, leaving little scope for accommodating others. Novak Djokovic has often suffered this fate. Where his illustrious rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were — and still are — wildly popular, universally, Djokovic was admired but not quite loved. Even the polyglot in him — he can speak Serbian, English, French, Italian, German and Spanish — did not fully endear him to fans outside Serbia. But his triumph in Sunday’s French Open final against Norway’s Casper Ruud might just herald that rare changing of the mind. The victory gave the Serb a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title, helping him steer clear of Nadal. At 36 years and 20 days, Djokovic is also the oldest man to win the Roland-Garros singles crown, a mark that Nadal had established last year, and is the first ever male to claim all four Majors at least thrice. A fortnight ago, Djokovic had trudged into Paris without a single final appearance since securing the Australian Open in January. In 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, widely considered the anointed one, he was faced with the tipster’s favourite. But he left the French capital after winning the generational battle — Alcaraz is 16 years his junior and Ruud 12 — and regaining the World No.1 ranking.
For some, Djokovic’s latest feat settles the debate as to who the greatest men’s player of all time is, for this is an era where success at Grand Slam events is the ultimate yardstick. But where Djokovic is really head and shoulders above others is in his overall excellence. Unlike his peers in Federer and Nadal, and yesteryear greats such as Pete Sampras, Djokovic has seldom played a curtailed schedule. That he has won all four Majors, all nine Masters 1000s and the ATP Finals at least twice, and is just two trophies short of doing it thrice, is an ode to his health, fitness and time-tested genius. Among women, Iga Swiatek, with her third Roland-Garros win in four years and fourth Slam overall, proved that she has it in her to chart a dominating course. The Polish World No.1 was flawless until the final, and once there, elevated her play when the match tightened, clawing her way back from a break down in the third set against the Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova. In less than three weeks, Wimbledon beckons, and grass is a surface where her top-spin game is not as effective. But the exceptional tennis nerd that Swiatek is, she is well capable of finding her feet, just like Djokovic, a seven-time champion at SW19.
