The 2021 French Open

(This post is really late but the last two weeks were extremely grueling for me due to a very intense workload so I only found time to write about this now.)

The 2021 French Open concluded last June 13 and when the (red) dust settled, Novak Djokovic was left alone standing atop the men's draw, holding up his 2nd Roland Garros trophy. On the women's side, Barbora Krejcikova surprised the tennis world by winning the women's trophy. Congratulations, Novak and Barbora!

What was your favourite #FlyBetterMoment from Roland-Garros this year? #FlyEmiratesFlyBetter #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/uVjzCHevts

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 14, 2021

As a Rafa Nadal fan, this is surely not the outcome I wanted. The fact that Daniil Medvedev moved past him in the rankings earlier this year meant that Nadal dropped to #3 in the world and he ended up on Novak's side of the draw. Rafa had more than his fair share of chances in one of the most hard-fought matches I've seen the two of them play. Yes, their semifinal was "only" four sets but the momentum kept shifting and both of them kept battling back when they were down. That said, Novak ended the match by winning the last 5 games to book a place in the final. There, he faced Stefanos Tsitsipas who, prior to that match, had amassed more points than any other player in the ATP tour this year. When Tsitispas went up 2 sets to love in the championship match, I'm sure most people were thinking the title was his. Not me, though. I was actually texting my friend to say that I am not counting Noval out and I'd be willing to bet that if he won that 3rd set, he would end up taking the match in five. As it turned out, I was right.

Obviously, the ideal state for me was for Nadal to have won his 14th title at Roland Garros. However, I am simply in awe at Novak's resilience and durability. In my opinion, his mental strength is second to none in the history of tennis. I don't think any other player has come from behind - including when he was match point down - as often as he has.  How significant is this win at the French Open?

• This is Novak Djokovic's 19th major title. He is now only one behind Roger Federer and Rafa. Given the fact that he's still the #1 player in the world, I wouldn't be surprised if he ties both of them this year and even moves past them both with his 21st.
• Djokovic is now the only male player to win each Grand Slam tournament at least twice in the Open Era.
• Don't look now but Novak is halfway towards winning the Grand Slam (or all four majors in the same year).
• It is also an Olympic year. If Djokovic competes and wins the Olympics along with Wimbledon and the US Open, he will achieve the Golden Slam, a feat accomplished by only one other player in history, Stefanie Graf.
• Novak has now been #1 for a men's record 326 weeks. Only two other players in history have been ranked #1 longer than that - Martina Navratilova at 332 weeks and Graf at 377 weeks. Novak will surely move past Martina within the next couple of months. He may very well end up being ranked #1 longer than any other player, male or female.

On the women's side, I was sad to see Iga Swiatek lose (I felt she hit too many errors) but I was happy about Barbora Krejcikova's win. I will admit that I didn't know who Krejcikova was prior to the French Open. But during the event, as she kept making it further into the tournament, I discovered that she was coached by Jana Novotna. I was (am) a Jana fan and I mourned her passing in 2017 due to cancer. This nostalgia made me root for Krejcikova. What's even more amazing is that she not only won the singles title, she also won the doubles trophy, a rare achievement in tennis these days. Congratulations Barbora!

Wimbledon is about to start in a few days and I am quite sad that Rafa won't be playing. My second favorite male player, Dominic Thiem, has also withdrawn from the event. That said, I am still looking forward to see what will happen. Will Novak Djokovic go into a three-way tie with Roger and Rafa at 20 major titles? Will Roger Federer snap Novak's streak at the slams this year to win his 21st major? Will one of the next gen players surprise Novak and Roger and become a first-time Grand Slam title winner? On the women's side, will Serena Williams finally tie Margaret Court's record 24 Grand Slam titles? There's so much history to play for and I am really intrigued to see how things will unfold.