Novak Djokovic showed his greatness once again after defeating Casper Ruud to claim an historic 23rd Grand Slam title at the French Open on Sunday.
Djokovic’s 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 7-5 victory over Ruud draws him level with Serena Williams and he could equal Margaret Court’s all-time singles mark at Wimbledon next month.
The Serbian, meanwhile, also becomes the first man ever to win at least three Grand Slam titles at all the major tournaments – a measure of his all-round greatness.
Djokovic has surged well ahead of his chief rivals, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer (who is now retired) in the race for the most Big Titles, which are Grand Slam championships, the Nitto ATP Finals, ATP Masters 1000 tournaments and Olympic singles gold medals.
The Serbian owns or is tied for the record in titles at the majors (23, solo record), Nitto ATP Finals (6, tied with Federer) and Masters 1000s (38, solo record). He has now won 67 Big Titles compared to 59 for Nadal and 54 for Federer.
Djokovic has won one ‘Big Title’ for every 3.2 events played (67/213). The only other player who has claimed one more than once per four events played is (one per 3.5 tournaments, 59/208). Federer won one Big Title for every 4.4 events contested (54/240).
The 36-year-old is also halfway to becoming the first man to win the Grand Slam — claiming all four majors in the same season — since Rod Laver in 1969. In 2021 Djokovic won the year’s first three majors before losing in the final of the US Open.
