Novak Djokovic Rallies Back to Win the 2021 French Open

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic at the Miami Open Tennis in 2018. Photo by Gustavo Caballero/South Beach Photo/REX/Shutterstock (9474924x)

The world’s number one ranked tennis player Novak Djokovic once again showed his excellence in tough moments. Despite falling down into a 0-2 hole against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the 2021 French Open finals, Djokovic rallied back to defeat the Greek and to claim his second Roland Garros title.

The 6-7 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win made Djokovic the first male tennis player in the Open Era to win all four Grand Slams at least twice. He also now has 19 career Grand Slams, putting him just one behind Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who each have 20.

“I’m very proud, very happy. I don’t want to stop there,” said Djokovic at the press conference. “Hopefully I can keep on [winning] here in Roland Garros, at least one or two more times.”

By winning the French Open and previously the Australian Open, Djokovic now has a chance to win all four Grand Slams in a single year. If he manages to top Wimbledon and the US Open, he will become only the third male player to win the calendar-year Grand Slam.

Novak Djokovic entered the match looking tired and sluggish, while youthful Stefanos Tsitsipas kept his game on point and won the first two sets. Djokovic took a locker room break before the third set, and it was a completely different game after that. His shots started to fall in, he was more composed, and his serve became impeccable. 

Tsitsipas, who was playing in his first Grand Slam finals, didn’t know how to adjust to this sudden change of pace. While he scrambled to regain his dominance on the court, Djokovic had already erased the deficit, and it was too late to stop him in the fifth.

“I’d like to thank the Greek fans, and my team, who are constantly behind me, for my dreams. This is a long journey,” said Tsitsipas.

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