Novak Djokovic has now tied Roger Federer for the total amount of Grand Slam match wins after his five-set French Open win over Lorenzo Musetti and the 37-year-old admits he was in the mood for a ‘party’ in the early hours.
The third-round battle on court Philippe-Chatrier will go down in Roland-Garros history with the latest finish ever as Djokovic finally clinched the win at 3.07am.
This year’s Grand Slam tournament on the famous Paris clay has been massively impacted by rain, with some spectators even dubbing it the ‘Drench Open’.
It meant Djokovic’s match against Musetti didn’t start until 10.40pm – and it lasted almost four-and-a-half hours – to smash the previous latest finish of 1.26am.
‘I want to express my respect for Lorenzo, it was a great battle,’ Djokovic said after the match.
‘One of us had to lose. I was a little lucky at the beginning of the fourth set, because he was stronger up until then. I couldn’t find solutions… he was impenetrable.
‘He did everything very well and made very few mistakes. You guys gave me energy from 2-2 in the fourth set and from then on I was a different player… thank you so much.
‘It’s incredible that you are still here, including some kids at 3am in the morning. Maybe it was the best match I’ve played here in forever.
‘With all this adrenaline who will be able to sleep? If there’s a party happening, I’ll come!’
Djokovic will be no doubt delighted to match another Federer record – 369 Grand Slam wins – as he looks to cement his status as the greatest tennis player ever.
The Serbian world No.1 has already won four more Grand Slam titles than Swiss hero Federer, who retired in 2022 with 20 major trophies under his belt.
Djokovic is attempting to defend his title at Roland-Garros and the top seed next faces Argentine 23rd-seed Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth round.
Should Djokovic make it 25 Grand Slam titles in Paris, he would equal legendary women’s singles star Margaret Court for the most in the entire history of tennis.
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