NOVAK DJOKOVIC HAS become the eighth man to capture a career Grand Slam with a four-set defeat of Andy Murray in the French Open final.
Victory at Roland Garros had thus far eluded the world number one despite the Serb contesting his fifth final at the venue today.
It was the Serb’s sixth consecutive Grand Slam final appearance and he overcame a sluggish start to eventually see off Murray on a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 scoreline.
Murray lost his first service game of the match to love but recovered admirably, winning the next four games, to eventually take the first set 6-3.
But Djokovic raced out of the blocks in the second set and the Scot, who was contesting his first French Open final, couldn’t live with the Serb’s intensity thereafter.
Djokovic takes his career tally to 12 Grand Slam titles and joins the elite list — Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Don Budge and Fred Perry — of male players to have won all four Grand Slams.
Even more impressively, he is now the holder of each grand slam trophy. A vastly improved player on clay over the last two years, Murray had claimed a morale-boosting win over Djokovic when the duo last met in Rome three weeks ago, having lost 12 of their last 13 meetings.
And it was the Briton — in his maiden French Open final appearance — who swiftly seized the initiative early on, despite being broken to love in the opening game.
Murray had never previously lost at Roland Garros when winning the first set, but it was not long before he found himself firmly on the back foot.
Djokovic’s initial struggles appeared a distant memory as he raced through the second set, holding with increasing ease and applying constant pressure when returning.
With Murray unable to halt the momentum of an opponent who frequently excelled at the net with a host of sparkling winners, the relentless Djokovic duly kicked on.
After earning a double-break in set three, he staved off a brief Murray revival — that yielded four break points — before opening up a similar advantage in the fourth.
Murray, taken to five sets in each of his first two matches at this tournament, impressively mustered the energy and resolve to break back when Djokovic served for the match at 5-2.
However, Djokovic was not to be denied as he got the job done in his next service game, albeit after spurning two championship points amid rising tension, to join an exclusive club of greats.
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