Djokovic conquers Roland Garros to join tennis pantheon

Djokovic completes career grand slam

* Serb joins Laver and Budge as only men to hold all four majors at once

* Murray suffers eighth defeat in 10 grand slam finals

PARIS: After years of near misses, Novak Djokovic finally conquered mount Roland Garros on Sunday to win the one trophy he craved like no other a maiden French Open title that elevated him into the pantheon of tennis greats.

It was a trophy he had failed to hoist in 11 previous visits to Paris. It was a trophy that was flaunted in front of his face in 2012, 2014 and 2015, only he was not allowed to touch it after finishing runner-up in the three finals.

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On Sunday, the Musketeers' Cup was his at last as he broke Andy Murray's resistance with a 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-4 victory that not only completed his grand slam collection but also made him the first man in nearly half a century to hold all four majors at once.

Two games later, he was thumping his chest and waving both arms skywards as he urged the 15,000 crowd to pump up the volume.

Minutes later the deafening roars rocked the Philippe Chatrier arena as Djokovic finally cradled the trophy that meant so much to him.

"In the last point I don't even remember what happened. It's like my spirit had left my body," said Djokovic.

"Kind of out-of-body experience... between 5-2 and closing out the match a lot has happened in my mind, in my soul. In order for me to win this trophy I had to go through that."

 

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