By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Novak Djokovic is once again king of the clay court.
After a scorching start from the rising star of Greece, Stefanos Tsitsipas, who led two sets to none against the world no. 1, the stars aligned for Djokovic in the next three sets and completed a comeback for the ages, 6-7 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, to win his second French Open title.
It was an unusual sight for Djokovic fans as the youngster from Greece got the better of their idol in the first two sets.
The 22-year-old world no. 5 was fired up early and picked up his baseline rhythm that made things difficult for Djokovic.
Tsitsipas had a dominating service game and connected on five early aces just 30 minutes into the finals clash.
However, the veteran Djokovic switched gears in the third set and finally broke out of his hitting slump to regain momentum, taking one set at a time.
The Serbian’s patience and court mastery proved to be the edge against the younger Tsitsipas who just went off in the next two hours of the match.
Djokovic continued to perform at his highest level and took out Tsitsipas’ baseline game by placing the ball well from side to side with varied drop shots and carried on until the last set.
Tstitsipas showed he still had something left in the tank in the last set and held four of his services but Djokovic was too much and racked up several forehand winners to finally raise his second French Open championship since 2016.
