Djokovic, Tsitsipas chase history in French Open final

SUNDAY’S Roland-Garros men’s singles final will be historic on many levels.

World No.1 Novak Djokovic, fresh off his thrilling victory over Rafael Nadal, will bid to become the first man in the Open Era to win each of the four Grand Slams at least twice.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, already the first Greek to reach a Grand Slam final, will bid for his maiden major title – against an 18-time Grand Slam champion.

The Greek is aware that to win, he’ll have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

“I’m looking forward to leaving my entire body on the court,” No.5 seed Tsitsipas said after his five-set semi-final triumph over No.6 seed Alexander Zverev on Friday.

Djokovic, the 2016 Roland-Garros champion, will carry heightened confidence after achieving what he called his greatest victory in Paris on Friday night.

“Definitely the best match that I was part of ever in Roland-Garros for me, and top three matches that I ever played in my entire career, considering quality of tennis, playing my biggest rival on the court where he has had so much success and has been the dominant force in the last 15-plus years,” he said.

Facing Djokovic will be a heady challenge for Tsitsipas.

He owns a 2-5 lifetime record against the 34-year-old, which includes a five-set defeat in the Roland-Garros semi-finals last autumn.

Patrick Mouratoglou, who has mentored Tsitsipas since 2015, and who worked with his father Apostolos to create his current team, which features Frederic Lefebvre and Jerome Bianchi, says that it is a challenge that the Greek will fully embrace.

“Yes, he has experience beating the best players in the world, yes he believes in himself and he knows he can do it,” the Frenchman says of Tsitsipas.

“This is going to help him for sure. He won’t have any doubt about his ability to win, which is extremely important, but on the other hand it’s his first final and this is going to be very emotional for him, and this is going to be one of the two biggest challenges of the day.

“The second challenge will be called ‘Novak’ – the first one will be called pressure of playing your first Grand Slam final.”

Facing Djokovic on any occasion is a daunting task, but trying to tackle him in a Grand Slam final, just two days after he has achieved one of his greatest personal victories? Make it monumental.

“For me Novak is a bigger challenge than Rafa, because when Novak is super confident he’s almost unstoppable,” Mouratoglou stated.

The world No.1, who became the first man in history to notch two Roland-Garros victories over 13-time champion Nadal on Friday, will be contesting his 29th Grand Slam final on Sunday, and his sixth at Roland-Garros.

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