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Roland-Garros 2021 – Final – The cheat sheet: Novak Djokovic resists everything and that’s what we recognize

Why and how

As many feared, Novak Djokovic stuck three sets to Stefanos Tsitsipas. 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. What was less predictable is that before inflicting the 3-0 to his young opponent, he had placed him at the foot of the wall by winning the first two sets. Before this final, we could legitimately have two fears, one on each side:

. That Djokovic did not leave too much gum in his epic semi-final against Nadal.
. That Tsitsipas is not inhibited, totally or partially, by the weight of the event.

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Open the closet and put it all in there. The world number one has not flinched. However, in the second set, he appeared amorphous, with that negative body language that we sometimes know him. But he finished with a bang and, after more than four hours of play, he was clearly the fresher of the two finalists.

Tsitsipas, he responded as a great champion that we can imagine. Less tense than in his semi-final against Sascha Zverev, the Athenian was up to it, and immediately. This first set, absolutely sumptuous, ended with a decisive game with twists, had placed him in orbit. The second, overflown, had brought it closer to the stars. But there is a world between winning two sets in the Grand Slam final against a Djokovic or a Nadal and winning three. Said like that, it sounds silly, but it’s an indelible truth: the five-set format changes everything, and that’s why it shouldn’t be changed.

After his “reset” in the locker room at the end of the second set, as against Lorenzo Musetti, Novak Djokovic returned to other arrangements. With a relaxation found in the service or the exchange, he has irresistibly gained the upper hand. Paradoxically, it is therefore physically that Stefanos Tsitsipas will have stuck. Against Djokovic, it does not forgive. Until the end, he was courageous, he displayed a laudable lack of renunciation but, basically, it was all over. Courage is a necessary virtue but not sufficient in this context. It would have taken the Tsitsipas of the first two sets one more set. But that difference is an ocean, not a river, in which others have recently drowned, like Thiem (Australian Open 2020) or Medvedev (US Open 2019).

Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Roland-Garros final

Credit: Eurosport

The key moment

Fairly clear. Third set, fourth game. At this point, Djokovic has his head underwater. Then comes an endless serve game from Stefanos Tsitsipas, which will stretch over more than eleven minutes. Jostled for the first time since the end of the first set, the Greek saves one, then two, then three, then four break points. But the next one is the right one for the world number one. With this station wagon, he returns to the direction of travel. We don’t know yet, but he won’t turn around anymore. The match has just changed. For real.

The sheet

STATSDJOKOVICTSITSIPAS
Points earned164147
Aces514
Double faults34
Percentage 1st bale68%62%
Pass 1st ball78%67%
2nd ball success53%50%
Break balls5/163/8
Winning moves5662
Unforced errors4144

In the state: 0

The number of break points in favor of Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last three sets. He had acquired eight over the first two rounds. In this regard, as in others, this match will have really had two faces. But from the moment he was never again able to put the world number one in danger on his faceoff, everything got complicated for the younger of the two finalists. At the same time, the pressure on its own commitments has become more important. And he forced, like the last set, where he spent only 52% of first balls.

The declared

Novak Djokovic : “I played two great champions in less than 48 hours, it has been very difficult physically and mentally for me these last two, three days. I managed to stay mentally present even leading two sets to zero, it’s a dream that has come true once again.”

The question: Is this the most beautiful of Djokovic?

The advantage, when you have won 19 Grand Slam titles, is that you are spoiled for choice. The choice, more than the embarrassment, moreover. For him as for his aficionados, this appreciation will therefore be a matter of sensitivity or taste. One thing still seems unequivocal: this 19th will have a special flavor for the Djoker. First, because it allows him to accomplish an unprecedented feat in the Open era. He is the first to win at least twice in each of the four Grand Slam tricks, succeeding where all other career Grand Slam authors, namely Agassi, Nadal and Federer, have (so far in the case of the last two) failed.

Then there is the way. Never, during his 19 victorious campaigns, the Serb had emerged victorious from a capital final by overcoming a handicap of two sets. This unique fragrance adds to the character’s grandeur, which is decidedly indestructible. What does it take to defeat him? Two sets in advance, obviously, no longer provide a sufficient guarantee. It is all the more remarkable that this feat, Djokovic has just signed it 48 hours after an epic fight against Rafael Nadal, which had forced him to draw very far, physically and emotionally.

At 34, the Belgrade champion gives no sign of micro-decline, whether it is his desire or his abilities. The ambition which irrigates his veins like a powerful rage will never dry up. Physically, he remains a rock. And tennis, the accuracy of his words (ah, this short game, this occupation of the field, these amortizations …) allow him to almost always have the answer to everything. You may not like it, again, it’s all a matter of taste, but its champion outfit is today, as it has been for ten years, the most complete of all. And there is no reason to think it will stop there.

Novak Djokovic, crowned at Roland Garros after his victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas

Credit: Getty Images

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