Novak Djokovic plays Casper Ruud in Roland Garros men’s showpiece

Novak Djokovic says he is relishing the chance to make tennis history as he aims to become the first man to win 23 Grand Slam titles.

“I like the feeling, it’s an incredible privilege to be able to make history in the sport I truly love and has given me so much,” Djokovic said. “The motivation is very high, as you can imagine. There is one more to go to hopefully get my hands on the trophy. “I have put myself in another really ideal position to win a Grand Slam.

“That’s basically what still drives me when I wake up in the morning and think about things I want to achieve. The Grand Slams are what drives me the most.”

Another victory would give Djokovic his third French Open title and he would also become the first man to win each of the four Grand Slam tournaments at least three times.

“I’ve been very fortunate that most of the matches in tournaments I’ve played in the last few years, there is history on the line,” Djokovic said. “As far as all the records that are on the line, again it’s flattering, it’s great, but I need to win. “I’m proud of all my achievements and I try to stay present and in the moment. I know the job is not finished and we have another match.”

Ruud reached the finals of the French Open and the US Open in 2022 but lost on both occasions, against Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz respectively.

At Roland Garros, Ruud won only six games in three sets as Nadal completed a routine 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 victory for his 22nd Grand Slam title.

“Obviously, I would like to try to do better than last year,” Ruud said. “Let’s see if I have learned something from the two previous ones that I played last year. “It’s going to be tough, for sure. He’s playing for his 23rd, I’m playing for my first. So I’m going to just try to play without pressure and just try to enjoy the moment. “That was my mentality last year as well, and it didn’t go my way. “It just feels great to be back in the final. I didn’t think or necessarily believe in the beginning of the tournament I was going to be in the final.”

Djokovic and Ruud have never played each other in a Grand Slam, but have met four times on the ATP Tour, with the Serb winning all the matches and not even dropping a set.

“It is going to be the toughest challenge of the year for me to play Novak,” Ruud added. “Novak has played great this tournament and in the Grand Slams he always raises his level. “I have never beaten him before, so I’m going to have to try to come up with a better game plan. “I know I’m going to have to play my ‘A’ game, my best level I’ve ever played if I want to have a chance against him.”

How they reached the final

Djokovic did not drop a set in the first four rounds, beating Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States, Marton Fucsovics of Hungary, 29th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain and Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru.

Russia’s Karen Khachanov, the 11th seed, became the first player to take a set off Djokovic in their quarter-final before the former world number one took the next three sets.

A match with current world number one Carlos Alcaraz followed in the semi-finals and it was set up to be a classic at one set all in a high quality encounter before the 20-year-old Spaniard struggled physically, with Djokovic winning 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-1

Ruud began with a straight-set win over Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer but had to fight back from a set down against both Giulio Zeppieri of Italy in round two and then Zhizhen Zhang of China in the third round.

He saw off Chile’s Nicolas Jarry in the last 16, with his first win over a seed coming with the four-set victory over Denmark’s Holger Rune, the sixth seed, in the quarter-finals.

Ruud made it back-to-back French Open final appearances thanks to a convincing 6-3 6-4 6-0 win over 22nd seed Alexander Zverev of Germany.

(BBC Sports)