French Open 2023: Top records created in the tournament ft. Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek
The 127th edition of the French Open had a grand finish with a galaxy of stars in attendance. Novak Djokovic won his third Roland Garros title, beating Casper Ruud in the final to clinch a record-extending 23rd Grand Slam crown.
The match started with Ruud, who was making his second consecutive appearance in the final, gaining the upper hand by winning three straight games. However, he failed to capitalize on his start, allowing Djokovic to get back into the match, and the No. 3 seed eventually won the 1st set in a tiebreaker.
After that, there was no looking back for Djokovic, who raised his level to win the match in straight sets, 7-6(1), 6-3, 7-5.
The women’s singles final was not short of action either, as the pre-tournament favorite and World No. 1 Iga Swiatek successfully defended her title by defeating Karolina Muchova, who was playing her first Major final, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.
It looked like another straight-sets win for the Pole after she took the first set, but Muchova fought back to make the final a hard-fought three-set affair.
Both the singles finals saw multiple records broken and created.
Here are some of the top records made at the 2023 French Open:
1. Novak Djokovic extending his already overflowing record books
Novak Djokovic created numerous records with his win at the 2023 French Open, including becoming the first man to win 23 Grand Slams titles in the Open Era. He is currently the only male player to have won all four Grand Slams at least thrice and reach all four Major finals at least seven times.
The Serb also became the oldest men’s champion in French Open history, breaking the record set by Rafael Nadal last year. He also equaled Chris Evert's total Grand Slam finals tally of 34 and made a record 17th quarterfinals appearance at the French Open.
2. Iga Swiatek tightening her French Open stronghold
Not far from Djokovic in terms of the records created, Iga Swiatek rewrote the history books with her third French Open title. She became only the second women's player to defend the Roland Garros title this century, after Justine Henin did it in 2006.
Swiatek, 22, also became the youngest player to win the claycourt Major in consecutive years since Monica Seles (19) in 1992. She is also the youngest to win four Grand Slams since Serena Williams (20) in 2002.
3. Historic first for Grand Slam quarterfinals
For the first time-ever at any Slam, two players ranked below 150 reached the quarterfinals with Elina Svitolnia of Ukraine and Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova making it to the last eight in the women's singles. This is the first time it happened either in men's and women's singles event. Pavlyuchenkova, who was the runner up at Paris in 2021, is the lowest-ranked (world no. 333) quarterfinalist in the event's history.
4. New highs for Tunisia and Brazil players
Ons Jabeur continues to make history as she became the first Tunisian to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. Beatriz Haddad Maia, who beat Jabeur at the quarterfinals, became the first Brazilian woman to reach the Roland Garros semifinals in the Open Era.
5. Russian stars on the rise at French Open 2023
Mirra Andreeva from Russia became the youngest player to reach the thrid round at the French Open since 2005. Andreeva, who qualified for the main draw through qualifiers, was also just the seventh player under the age of 17 to reach the third round since 1993. Interestingly, has set a herself a target of winning 25 Grand Slams.
Another Russian, Alina Korneeva - who won the Roland Garros girls singles title - also created history by becoming the first player to win the year's first two junior girls Grand Slams since 1990. She also became the first girl to win two Slam titles in a year since 2013. Her opponent Perez Alarcon also made history as she was the first girl from Peru to reach a junior Grand Slam final.