2023 French Open Roland Garros Men's Final Preview - Novak Djokovic v Casper Ruud

Sunday, 11 June 2023 at 13:03

The Men's French Open Final is set to take place on Sunday afternoon with history on the line on both sides of the court.

TennisUpToDate brings you the preview as Roland Garros concludes with Novak Djokovic facing Casper Ruud at around 14:30 CET.

Djokovic will make history on Sunday if he does as many expect and seal the title for a third time. He will become a 23 time Grand Slam champion and usurp Rafael Nadal in the tournament he couldn't play due to injury.

One final swansong is expected from Nadal next year, but when it comes to Djokovic he is not letting up.

Road to the final for Djokovic

Coming into Roland Garros despite being the favourite, there were major doubts over Novak Djokovic with his form leaving a lot to be desired and injury doubts in Monte-Carlo.

But he has dispelled those when it matters most in Paris. He started off with a routine win over Aleksandar Kovacevic followed by straight sets but not straight forward in part wins over Marton Fucsovics and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Juan Pablo Varillas was a lot more simple losing only seven games in victory. His main scare before the semi-finals came against Karen Khachanov.

He lost the first set but rallied in a superb tiebreak winning it 7-0 before sweeping the final two sets 6-2 and 6-4.

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Fortune favors the brave and Djokovic, he encountered fortune in his semi-final as he saw off Carlos Alcaraz in four sets.

Alcaraz was left blighted by cramp which saw him win the second set but lose the next two 6-1, 6-1. Djokovic was criticized for celebrating amid Alcaraz's turmoil but the Spaniard himself absolved him of blame.

He heads into a similar final to last year for Rafael Nadal with Casper Ruud the opponent and history again on the line. A player who lives up to the occasion, expectation will be that he does so again.

Ruud's road to the final at Roland Garros

His opponent Casper Ruud is into a third Grand Slam final in just over a year and has bounced back superbly after a crisis at times earlier in the season.

Last year he was soundly beaten though 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 by Nadal and on a surface that he is well known to favour, he will look to upset the odds and make Djokovic wait for supremacy until Wimbledon.

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Taking a months break earlier in the season after a South American Exhibition tour which he admits he regrets playing, he returned to struggle.

He won the Estoril Open, but lost early in Monte-Carlo and Madrid. Rome saw his form pick up as he made the semi-finals losing to Holger Rune. A score he even upped in Paris.

At the French Open, he has shown his clay court prowess again taking down Elias Ymer, Giulio Zeppieri, Zhang Zhizhen and Nicolas Jarry to advance to the Quarter-Finals. A fairly simple run through some would say before seeing off Rune and then finally Alexander Zverev in straight sets.

In danger of slipping down the rankings, he has defended his final from last year and answered a lot of critics but the onus now will be on getting over the line.

Head to Head

The Head to Head though paints a very one sided tale including on clay with two wins for Djokovic in Rome in 2020 and 2022 and also two wins at the ATP Finals.

Of course the latter was a final loss to Djokovic and both aren't over the best of five format but it shows why Djokovic is favourite for the final.

But will the 23 pressure get to him and will Ruud capitalise? The conclusion of Roland Garros is set for Sunday afternoon.

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Setting the stage for Sunday! How Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud got here 👇

7:31 PM · Jun 9, 2023

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