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.
Once the third set was underway, Djokovic felt better and played better.
"After that, there was not much of a doubt for me," said Djokovic, who did not face a break point in any of the last three sets.
He joined Roy Emerson and Rod Laver as the only men to have won two singles title at each major. As the reigning champion at the Australian Open and French Open, Djokovic will be chasing not only a sixth title at Wimbledon when the grass court major starts on June 28 but another rare achievement: He is halfway to joining Laver and Don Budge as the only men with a calendar-year Grand Slam.
Djokovic eliminated 13-time French Open champion Nadal - a challenge he likened to scaling Mount Everest - in a semifinal that lasted more than four hours Friday night. It was only the third loss in 108 French Open matches for Nadal, but Djokovic also defeated the Spanish star in the 2015 quarterfinals before losing that year's final. It appeared the same fate awaited him Sunday against Tsitsipas, when the 22-year-old from Greece had the upper hand against a drained Djokovic.
"It was not easy for me," Djokovic said, "both physically and mentally."
His spirited victory made him the first man in the professional era to win a major title after twice facing a 2-0 deficit in sets during the tournament. Djokovic, who trailed 19-year-old Lorenzo Musetti by that margin in the fourth round, has now come back to win from two sets down six times in his career.
"Suddenly just felt cold and out of it," Tsitsipas said. "I felt like I kind of lost my game a little bit."
This was the first major final for Tsitsipas and the 29th for Djokovic, who also won the 2016 French Open to go with nine titles at the Australian Open, five at Wimbledon and three at the U.S. Open. Also notable: Djokovic is 35-10 in five-setters - including 32 wins at majors, the men's record - while Tsitsipas is 5-5.
"Two sets doesn't really mean anything," said Tsitsipas, who needed more than an hour and a half to grab his lead on a sunny, breezy afternoon with the temperature approaching 80 degrees and attendance limited to 5,000, about a third of capacity, because of COVID-19 restrictions.
The footing on clay can be tricky, and both men took first-set tumbles. Djokovic's left him prone on the sideline after a head-first fall near a net post; he said his body felt the effects for about half an hour afterward. Tsitsipas slipped by the baseline, smearing his white shirt and purple shorts with the rust-colored surface.
While Djokovic switched tops soon after his spill, Tsitsipas kept his dirty clothes on - as if he viewed the mess as a badge of honor - until after losing the third set, when he requested a visit from a trainer to help him with a tight hip. By then, the momentum had changed.
The first set was tense as can be: Tsitsipas won 43 points, Djokovic 42. Djokovic began the second set with a double fault and a swinging forehand volley that landed way long, then got broken with a wild forehand. Tsitsipas broke again to lead 5-2 in that set, and Djokovic pressed a white towel against his face at a changeover.
Trying to cool off? Perhaps. Trying to reset himself? Probably.
After the second set, Djokovic took one of each player's two allotted breaks. The match was never quite the same, and Tsitsipas thought Djokovic's anticipation and movement improved.
"I kind of felt like he could read my game a bit better suddenly," Tsitsipas said.
A supreme returner with a knack for imposing his will, Djokovic accrued early service breaks in each of the third, fourth and fifth sets.
Shadows were spreading across the court as the sun descended in the early evening and, though Djokovic complained to chair umpire Aurélie Tourte that the artificial lights were switched on, he shined when it mattered most.
This was another match that lasted more than four hours, and Djokovic was up to the task again.
"I will definitely remember these last 48 hours," he said, "for the rest of my life."
He's not the only one.
Exclusive club
Barbora Krejcikova completed a rare sweep of titles Sunday as she won a third women's doubles major trophy with Katerina Siniakova - both are 25 and from the Czech Republic - less than 24 hours after she earned her maiden singles Grand Slam championship by beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at the French Open.
Krejcikova is the first woman since Mary Pierce in 2000 to lift both trophies at the clay court major - only seven women have completed the sweep at Roland Garros - and the first player to win both titles at any Grand Slam since Serena Williams at Wimbledon in 2016.
Krejcikova and Siniakova beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States and Iga Swiatek of Poland, converting five of their seven break points to win 6-4, 6-2.