The 2015 French Open final is set as Novak Djokovic will face Stan Wawrinka on Sunday for the clay court Grand Slam title. The championship follows what were two competitive semifinals played over Friday and Saturday.
In the first semifinal that was completed, Stan Wawrinka eliminated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The match, almost four hours in length, went four sets and included two tiebreakers before the Swiss No. 2 defeated Tsonga 6-4 in the fourth.
Djokovic had a little more trouble in his semifinal as Andy Murray, after falling behind 0-2, managed to force a fifth and deciding set. Their semifinal, which was played over the course of two days, ended when Djokovic elevated his play in the deciding set to win it 6-1.
Heading into the Roland Garros final, Djokovic is considered a massive favorite (-900, 1/9 bet365). The World No. 1 also enters the championship match with an apparent date with destiny.
Djokovic, with a win, would complete the career Grand Slam. He would then join Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi, and a small list of other players to have accomplished the feat.
It is worth noting, that completion of the career Grand Slam is one criteria that tennis pundits use when debating who deserves to be called the greatest player of all-time for men’s tennis. It is certainly not the only criteria but if Djokovic is to be mentioned in the debate at career’s end then winning Sunday’s match could prove vital.
For Wawrinka, it’s too late in his career for him to play himself into the debate. However the 30-year old could still separate himself from a lot of other former Grand Slam champions with a win on Sunday.
Wawrinka won the 2014 Australian Open with a draw that went through Djokovic in the quarters. To date, that is the Swiss’ only Grand Slam singles title and he sits on the list of players to have accomplished the feat just one time.
While the list is an exclusive one that many players would love to be on, it still contains semi-forgettable names like Gaston Gaudio, Thomas Johannson, Andres Gomez, Richard Krajicek, Petr Korda, and Albert Costa.
Wawrinka could differentiate himself from those players with a title on Sunday. He would then join more proven players on the list of two-Slammers. Players like Andy Murray, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Patrick Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt, and Marat Safin – all former No. 1s (Murray aside).
The men’s French Open final is scheduled for Sunday at 3pm from Paris. One elephant in the room, besides the fact that Djokovic has won so many Grand Slam finals relative to Wawrinka, is the fact that the Serb holds a 17-3 record against the Swiss.
It would take something else for Wawrinka to upset the Serb especially since Djokovic, in the last two rounds, already defeated his main rivals for the 2015 Roland Garros crown.