Former player David Ferrer described the 2023 edition of Roland Garros as a strange one, even though there was nothing surprising about Novak Djokovic winning.
Novak Djokovic ended up as the champion and while that seems like something natural after so many years of his dominance, it was strange in some ways. Leading up to the event Rafael Nadal made headlines when he pulled out of the tournament.
After that, Daniil Medvedev get beaten in the first round after he just had the best moment of his career on clay. Then, Alexander Zverev suddenly start playing much better than expected going to the semi-final. The same can be said for Casper Ruud who couldn't find his top form for much of this year only for him to go to the final in Paris.
Rising stars like Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune didn't live up to the expectations. Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas disappointed with their performances. Carlos Alcaraz cruise and was favoured against Djokovic who looked questionable and injured for much of this year's clay season. And then he cramped in the biggest moment of his career so far. And then Djokovic won it.
It has been a slightly strange Roland Garros with the loss of Rafa Nadal and with Carlos Alcaraz who suffered those cramps when the match was very even. But, without a doubt, Novak Djokovic deserved to win Roland Garros and prove that he is one of the best.- Ferrer on Roland Garros
A somewhat expected conclusion but a very odd sequence of events leading up to it. In the end, Ferrer is right, Djokovic did deserve it because he once again proved like a rubber. He was stretched, folded, pushed and nothing worked. While others faltered Djokovic rose up once again.
It's not going to be easy but we're talking about one of the best in history, he's trained for it. If he is physically very well, he comes from winning the most difficult Grand Slam for him because of his type of game and he has achieved it with solvency.- Ferrer on Djokovic
