PARIS – Novak Djokovic left the tennis court to go the locker room for a little chat with himself after dropping the first two sets of the French Open final.
Part of him worried he was too diminished and depleted to overcome that deficit against his younger, fresher foe; another part of him insisted he would. It was a debate only Djokovic could settle, and he ultimately left no doubt about which part of him was right all along.
Aided by flawless serving down the stretch, a determined Djokovic summoned his imperious best and came all the way back to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-7 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, for his second championship at Roland Garros and 19th Grand Slam singles title overall – one away from the men’s record shared by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
“There’s always two voices inside: There is one telling you that you can’t do it, that it’s done, it’s finished. That voice was pretty strong after that second set,” Djokovic said. “So I felt that that was a time for me to actually vocalize the other voice and try to suppress the first one that was saying I can’t make it. I told myself I can do it. Encouraged myself. I strongly started to repeat that inside of my mind, tried to live it with my entire being.”
After ending the match with a leaping volley, Djokovic spread his arms, tapped his chest and crouched to touch the red clay at Court Philippe Chatrier. When the 39-year-old from Serbia went to the sideline, he handed his racket to a boy in the stands he said had been offering advice throughout.