The 36-year-old has won the first two majors of the year and the next generation do not look ready to challenge him in finalsAt the 2006 edition of the French Open, Novak Djokovic took one of the first great steps of his young career by reaching his first grand slam quarter final at 19. He had already beaten three seeded players, including the explosive world No 9, Fernando González, but greatness awaited. Djokovic stepped on Court Philippe Chatrier for his first quarter-final against Rafael Nadal, the 20-year-old defending champion.It was not quite the longest encounter of what would go on to be a 59-match rivalry. Two sets in, Djokovic retired while trailing 6-4, 6-4 with a lower back injury. Afterwards,...
Wily record holder is now the uncontested keyholder to the French Open – as well as the wider world of men’s tennisNo longer the polite and begrudging ripple of applause. No longer the soft shuffle of designer shoes towards the exits. This time the sound of triumph would be resounding and unqualified: from the plush seats where Zlatan Ibrahimović and Tom Brady were on their feet, to the windswept upper tiers where the cascade of Serbian flags caught the evening Parisian light. Roland Garros, and by extension the lineage of men’s tennis, is now the house of Novak Djokovic.He wore a royal red training top emblazoned with the number 23. He gave his victory speech in flawless French. And in...
The champion lost a set for the first time in this tournament but she knew how to drag herself out of a dangerous placeThe man holding the camera leaned in towards Iga Swiatek. The man holding the pen held it out to her. The new French Open champion thought for a while about how to encapsulate her torrent of thoughts and emotions into a little glass square around the size of a Pop Tart. Eventually she scrawled a number – #4, for her fourth grand slam title – and a single word. “Surréel”.And it really was surreal, or at least as about as surreal as it can ever be watching a habitual major champion win another major. For if the...