What has been a crazy and at times wet and wild French Open will conclude when the world’s top two men, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, go head to head on Sunday night (AEST) for the year’s second Grand Slam title.
Over the past fortnight, both players have shown why they are clearly the world’s top two men, with Djokovic having won five titles for the season and Murray continuing his impressive form on a surface which he struggled on for many years.
Both men also arrived in Paris having contested back-to-back finals at the Madrid and Rome Masters, with both dethroning each other as the defending champion: Djokovic winning in Madrid and Murray in Rome.
All the pressure was going to be on Djokovic as he sought his first French Open title following three previous unsuccessful attempts.
When the draw was released on May 20, a blockbuster semi-final against nine-times champion Rafael Nadal appeared all but a possibility, but when the Spaniard withdrew mid-tournament due to a wrist injury, the Serb’s chances of reaching a fourth final at Roland Garros suddenly opened up.
While he romped through the early rounds with minimal fuss, the Serb found himself in a huge challenge against Roberto Bautista-Agut in the fourth round when he dropped the opening set before the rain came in, causing play to be called off on Monday and making for the first one-day washout at Roland Garros since 2000.
After recovering to win in four sets and reach his 28th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final (and seventh consecutive at the French Open), Djokovic then proceeded to defeat Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals, but not without any controversy.
The top seed suffered a meltdown when he missed a couple of break points on Berdych’s serve in the third set, throwing his racquet in disgust, and had it hit a line judge he certainly wouldn’t be where he is now.
He then dominated Dominic Thiem in the semi-final, winning in straight sets to return to the French Open final for the fourth time, and he will certainly be hoping that it is fourth time lucky, as was the case with Roger Federer in 2009.
Three times Djokovic had been to the final, and three times he had fallen short, losing to Rafael Nadal in 2012 and 2014 and to Stan Wawrinka last year. Likewise, Federer lost to Nadal in the final three times between 2006 and 2008 before defeating Robin Soderling to complete his career Grand Slam in 2009.
Second seed Murray also entered the French Open with high expectations but found himself in deep trouble in each of his first two rounds, firstly being two points from defeat when he faced Czech veteran Radek Stepanek in the opening round.
The Scot had fallen two sets down and was on the brink of his first Grand Slam first round loss since 2008 before he recovered to win in five sets, claiming a tense final set 7-5.
Then, he fell two sets to one down against French wildcard Mathias Bourgue before again coming back to win in five sets.
It has been mostly smooth sailing for Murray since, defeating servebots Ivo Karlovic and John Isner in straight sets before facing further challenges from Richard Gasquet and Stan Wawrinka in the quarter and semi-finals respectively.
He came back from the loss of the first set to defeat local favourite Gasquet then ended the French Open title defence of Wawrinka by way of another four-set victory in the final four.
Now, Murray has become the first British man since Bunny Austin in 1937 to reach the final at Roland Garros and he will now attempt to become the first man since Fred Perry in 1935 to reign at the clay court Grand Slam tournament.
But to do that, he’ll have to come out all guns blazing against world number one Novak Djokovic, who will be fired up and desperate as ever to finally complete his career Grand Slam set.
For the second consecutive year, there will be a new French Open men’s champion, and for the third time in the last six majors Djokovic and Murray are once again the last men standing.
And so, the stage is set for what should be a cracker of a final between the world’s top two men. Here is everything you need to know heading into the men’s final on Sunday night.
Novak Djokovic (1) versus Andy Murray (2)
Sunday, June 5
Not before 3:00pm (11:00pm AEST)
Court Philippe Chatrier
Head-to-head
All matches: Djokovic 23-10
At Grand Slams: Djokovic 7-2
At the French Open: Djokovic 1-0
In Grand Slam finals: Djokovic 4-2
In all finals: Djokovic 9-7
Last meeting: Murray defeated Djokovic 6-3, 6-3, final, 2016 Rome Masters
Novak Djokovic’s road to the final
Round 1: defeated Lu Yen-hsun 6-4, 6-1, 6-1
Round 2: defeated Steve Darcis 7-5, 6-3, 6-4
Round 3: defeated Aljaz Bedene 6-2, 6-3, 6-3
Round 4: defeated Roberto Bautista-Agut (16) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5
Quarter-finals: defeated Tomas Berdych (7) 6-3, 7-5, 7-3
Semi-finals: defeated Dominic Thiem (13) 6-2, 6-1, 6-4
Andy Murray’s road to the final
Round 1: defeated Radek Stepanek 3-6, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-5
Round 2: defeated Mathias Bourgue 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
Round 3: defeated Ivo Karlovic (27) 6-1, 6-,4, 7-6 (7-3)
Round 4: defeated John Isner (15) 7-6 (11-9), 6-4, 6-3
Quarter-finals: defeated Richard Gasquet (9) 5-7, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0, 6-2
Semi-finals: defeated Stan Wawrinka (3) 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
Stats that matter
* This will be Novak Djokovic’s 20th Grand Slam final, while for Andy Murray this will be his ninth. It will be their fourth and first French Open finals respectively.
* Djokovic will be shooting for his twelfth Grand Slam title, Murray his third. Both are seeking their first French Open title.
* This will be their seventh Grand Slam final against each other, tenth Grand Slam meeting overall and second overall at the French Open. Djokovic leads these categories 4-2, 7-2 and 1-0 respectively.
* Both of Andy Murray’s Grand Slam titles (2012 US Open and Wimbledon 2013) have come at the expense of Novak Djokovic. This includes his most recent Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2013.
* This will be the fourth consecutive Grand Slam final featuring the world’s top two men (Djokovic-Federer at Wimbledon and the US Open last year, and Djokovic-Murray at this year’s Australian Open).
* Regardless of the result, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will remain one and two in the world respectively when the rankings are updated on Monday.
* If Djokovic wins, he will become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously.
* By reaching the final, Andy Murray has become the first British man since Bunny Austin in 1937 to reach the final at Roland Garros. He is aiming to become the first British male champion in Paris since Fred Perry in 1935.
Prediction
Novak Djokovic in four sets.
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