The French Open ended on Sunday with Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek topped champions after two weeks which featured geopolitics, controversies over sportsmanship in addition to marathon matches. Here are the highest 10 highlights of the French Open 2023:

‘Embarrassed’ boos for Ukraine star

The first match on Roland Garros’s showpiece Court Philippe Chatrier noticed Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk undergo a deluge of boos after she refused to shake the hand of Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka after her straight-sets defeat.

“I want to see people react to it in 10 years when the war is over. I think they will not feel really nice about what they did,” stated Kostyuk.

“I didn’t expect it. People should be honestly embarrassed.”

Djokovic in ‘Kosovo coronary heart of Serbia’ row

After his first spherical win over Aleksandar Kovacevic, Djokovic wrote “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence” on a TV digicam lens.

“Kosovo is our cradle, our stronghold, centre of the most important things for our country,” 36-year-old Belgrade-born Djokovic stated.

French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera stated Djokovic’s message was “not appropriate” whereas the Kosovo Olympic Committee demanded Djokovic be sanctioned.

“A lot of people disagree, but it’s what I stand for,” a defiant Djokovic stated after his second spherical win.

Marathon males

Germany’s Daniel Altmaier knocked out Italian eighth seed Jannik Sinner within the second spherical after a five-hour, 26-minute battle — the fifth longest match in match historical past.

Altmaier, the world quantity 79, twice staved off match factors late within the fourth set earlier than ultimately prevailing 6-7 (0/7), 7-6 (9/7), 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 on Court Suzanne Lenglen on his fifth match level.

Fritz shushes crowd

Taylor Fritz defeated Arthur Rinderknech, the final French participant within the match, and celebrated by inserting his finger to his lips as the vast majority of followers on Court Suzanne Lenglen roundly jeered him.

“They cheered so well for me, I wanted to make sure I won. Thanks guys,” the American stated sarcastically in his on-court interview because the boos continued.

The 25-year-old had grow to be irritated all through the match as followers sang the French nationwide anthem in a determined bid to push their final remaining hope into the subsequent spherical.

Redemption after ‘unjust’ doubles default

Japan’s Miyu Kato discovered redemption as a French Open combined doubles champion, 4 days after she was controversially disqualified from the ladies’s doubles for by accident hitting a ball woman.

“It has been challenging in the last few days after my unjust disqualification from the women’s doubles,” Kato stated after she and her companion Tim Puetz defeated Bianca Andreescu and Michael Venus within the remaining.

“I am now looking for a positive result to my appeal so I can reclaim my prize money, points and my reputation.”

The 28-year-old Kato and her Indonesian teammate Aldila Sutjiadi had been defaulted from the ladies’s doubles after a delicate lob from the Japanese participant left a ball woman in tears and shaking.

Marathon ladies

Beatriz Haddad Maia battled from a set and 3-0 right down to defeat Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 7-5 after three hours and 51 minutes within the third longest ladies’s match ever performed on the match.

The match was simply 16 minutes wanting the report 4 hours and 7 minutes it took Virginie Buisson to beat French compatriot Noelle van Lottum within the first spherical at Roland Garros in 1995.

Double bounce

World quantity six Holger Rune reached a second successive French Open quarter-final in a five-set win over Francisco Cerundolo, shrugging off a controversial double bounce incident within the match as “that’s life”.

“When I was hitting the ball, I just ran for it. I saw it after the next point on the TV, and I saw it was a double bounce,” stated Rune.

“So I felt sorry. Sorry for him. But this is tennis. This is sports. Some umpires, they make mistakes. Some for me; some for him. That’s life.”

‘I will not promote my nation’

Sabalenka boycotted two post-match media conferences claiming she didn’t really feel “safe” after going through a barrage of questions over the warfare in Ukraine and her shut private hyperlinks to Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko.

Eventually she returned to the press room in an try and make her place clear.

“I’m not supporting the war, meaning I don’t support Lukashenko right now,” she stated.

Sabalenka was talking after beating Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina within the quarter-finals. Svitolina was booed for not shaking arms whereas accusing the Belarusian of inflaming the strain by ready on the web for a handshake she knew wasn’t coming.

“I won’t sell my country for likes,” stated Svitolina.

Tension and cramps for Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz blamed his complete physique cramping in his four-set semi-final loss to Novak Djokovic on the strain attributable to going through such a “legend” on the opposite facet of the web.

“If someone says that he goes onto the court with no nerves playing against Novak, he lies. Of course playing a semi-final of a Grand Slam, you have a lot of nerves, but even more facing Novak. That’s the truth,” stated Alcaraz who misplaced 12 of the final 13 video games of the match.

Djokovic, Swiatek champions

Djokovic created historical past by capturing a record-breaking twenty third Grand Slam title with a 3rd French Open triumph due to his 7-6 (7/1), 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Casper Ruud, snapping the tie of twenty-two Slams he shared with career-long rival Rafael Nadal.

“It’s an incredible feeling to win 23. I’m beyond grateful and blessed to be standing here with so many incredible achievements,” stated Djokovic.

Twenty-four hours earlier, Swiatek turned the primary lady since Justine Henin in 2007 to win the French Open back-to-back. Her 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Karolina Muchova gave her a 3rd title in Paris and fourth main.

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