2016 French Open – Men's singles final

The 2016 French Open Men's singles final was the championship tennis match of the Men's Singles tournament at the 2016 French Open. A significant part of the Djokovic–Murray rivalry, it pitted the world's top two players, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, against each other in a Grand Slam final for the seventh time.

French Open Men's Final
Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Andy Murray (2)
Set 1 234
Novak Djokovic 3 666
Andy Murray 6 124
DateSunday 5 June 2016
TournamentFrench Open
LocationParis, France
Novak Djokovic tied the all-time Slam record and completed the Career Slam
Main articles: 2016 French Open and 2016 French Open – Men's Singles

After three hours and three minutes, World No. 1 Djokovic defeated second seed Murray 3–6, 6–1, 6–2, 6–4 to win the match.[1] By winning the 2016 French Open, Djokovic not only completed a career Grand Slam, he also became the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Major titles simultaneously,[2] while he also became the first man since Jim Courier in 1992 to win the Australian and French Open titles in the same calendar year.[3][4]

Background
Main articles: 2016 French Open and 2016 French Open – Men's Singles

The match took place on the final day of the 2016 edition of the 15-day French Open, held every May and June.

In the lead-up to the French Open, Djokovic and Murray contested the finals at both the Madrid and Rome Masters in May; these were the first two times that the pair contested a final on clay. Both dethroned each other as the defending champion, with Djokovic defeating Murray in Madrid by way of a three-set win and Murray reversing the result in Rome with a straight-sets victory.[5]

Djokovic entered the French Open as the favourite for the tournament,[6][7] and after winning each of his first three matches in straight sets, his title chances multiplied when nine-times champion Rafael Nadal withdrew mid-tournament due to a wrist injury.[8][9][10] En route to the final, he dropped just one set, the first one in his fourth-round match against Roberto Bautista-Agut.[11]

Murray, on the other hand, endured consecutive five-set matches against Radek Štěpánek and Mathias Bourgue in his first two matches; in the former, he was two-sets-to-love down and was two points away from what would've been his earliest defeat at the French Open since 2006 before he rallied to win in five sets.[12] He proceeded to win his next two matches in straight sets, before defeating Richard Gasquet[13] and defending champion Stan Wawrinka[14] in the quarter and semi-finals respectively to reach his first French Open final. His win over Wawrinka was regarded as "his best ever performance on clay".[14]

Match

Andy Murray won the pre-match coin toss and elected to serve first. He was broken to love in the opening game of the match, but he would break straight back and would hold the remainder of his service games to take the opening set 6–3. At that point, history seemed to favour Murray, who had never previously lost a match at Roland Garros after winning the opening set, while he had also not lost a match after winning the opening set in 49 consecutive Grand Slam matches.[15]

However, Djokovic would hit back in the second set, taking the second and third sets for the loss of just three games to take a two-sets-to-one lead. In the fourth, Djokovic broke twice to hold a 5–2 lead, but would double-fault on break point down to surrender one of those breaks, reducing the margin to 5–3. After Murray held once more, Djokovic converted his third match point to win the match in four sets and finally break his French Open curse.[16]

Officials

The chair umpire throughout the match was Damien Dumusois.[17]

Statistics
CategoryDjokovicMurray
1st serve %76 of 110 = 69%55 of 119 = 46%
Aces45
Double faults33
Winners4123
Unforced errors3739
Winners-UFE+4-16
Break point conversions7 of 14 = 50%3 of 10 = 30%
Total points won12297

Source

Murray and Djokovic about the match

Following the match, Djokovic thanked his coaching staff and family for their support:

My family, my team, my loves, thank you so much for tolerating everything on a daily basis,

— Novak Djokovic [18]

He also extended his praise to Murray:

It was a pleasure to play against you once more. I'm sure I will be seeing you with the big trophies in the future.

— Novak Djokovic [18]

Murray conceded that Djokovic was the better player on the day, and that he didn't play as well as he did.

I didn’t serve particularly well today. On this surface, it’s harder to get free points on your second serve. Maybe on the quicker surfaces you can do that. You serve 100 miles an hour second serve on the grass, that’s a little bit different to doing it on a slow, heavy clay court. It’s going to come back more often.

— Andy Murray [19]

Reaction

Djokovic's French Open victory was met with a positive reaction around the tennis community, with rival players including Juan Martín del Potro, Milos Raonic and Marin Čilić among those paying tribute and offering their congratulations towards Djokovic.[20]

Pat Cash analysed the match and said on the BBC Sport website:

This has been the tricky one for Djokovic but he's come out and played some great tennis. He's rock solid, he knows his game so well and he's mentally focused. From where he started off in this match to where he finished, what a contrast, and it just goes to show how great a champion he is.

— Pat Cash [3]

See also

References
  1. "Novak Djokovic wins first French Open, becomes only third man to hold all four major titles at once". Fox Sports. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  2. "Novak Djokovic eyes calendar slam after French Open title". Sports Cafe. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  3. "French Open men's final: Novak Djokovic beats Andy Murray to win title – as it happened". Guardian. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  4. "Novak Djokovic beats Andy Murray to win first French Open title". BBC Sport. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  5. "Murray takes Rome title". AAP. ninemsn.com.au. 16 May 2016. Archived from the original on 16 May 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  6. Mitchell, Kevin (23 May 2016). "Novak Djokovic is favourite for my French Open title, says Stan Wawrinka". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  7. Kennard, Joe (28 April 2016). "Why Novak Djokovic Is Still the Prohibitive Favorite at the 2016 French Open". Bleach Report. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  8. Beattie, Michael (27 May 2016). "Rafael Nadal withdraws from Roland-Garros". Roland Garros. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  9. Garros, Kevin Mitchell at Roland (27 May 2016). "Rafael Nadal pulls out of French Open with wrist problem before third round" – via The Guardian.
  10. "Now or never for Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros". The Roar. 29 May 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  11. Crooks, Eleanor (1 June 2016). "French Open 2016: Novak Djokovic finally overcomes Roberto Bautista Agut as Paris weather clears". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  12. Eccleshare, Charlie; Briggs, Simon (24 May 2016). "French Open 2016: Andy Murray vs Radek Stepanek - Briton comes back from two sets down to win in five". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  13. Mitchell, Kevin (2 June 2016). "Andy Murray battles past Richard Gasquet in French Open quarter-finals". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  14. Mitchell, Kevin (4 June 2016). "Andy Murray finds form to set up French Open final with Novak Djokovic". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  15. "Djokovic completes grand slam set, Olympic gold the next target". The Roar. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  16. "Novak Djokovic beats Andy Murray to win first French Open title". BBC Sport. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  17. Hurrey, Adam (5 June 2016). "Andy Murray vs Novak Djokovic, French Open final 2016: How the world no.1 conquered the clay for the first time to complete his Novak Slam". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  18. Timothy, Rapp (6 June 2016). "Novak Djokovic vs. Andy Murray: French Open 2016 Men's Final Score, Reaction". Bleach Report. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  19. Mitchell, Kevin (6 June 2016). "Novak Djokovic beats Andy Murray to claim first French Open title". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  20. "Players React To Novak Djokovic's Historic Win At Roland Garros". ATP World Tour. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
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