Novak Djokovic beats Stefanos Tsitsipas in final to win 19th Grand Slam title
Paris, Jun 13: Talented and tenacious as they come, Novak Djokovic was not about to concede a thing after dropping the first two sets of the French Open final against his younger, fresher foe, Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Djokovic looked diminished and depleted at the outset Sunday. By the end, he was at his imperious best.
The top-seeded Djokovic came all the way back to beat the fifth-seeded Tsitsipas 6-7 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 for his second championship at Roland Garros and 19th Grand Slam title overall.
Djokovic is now just one major trophy away from tying the men's record of 20 shared by Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. And reigning Australian Open champion Djokovic now stands halfway to a calendar-year Grand Slam, something no man has accomplished since Rod Laver in 1969.
The 34-year-old Djokovic eliminated 13-time French Open champion Nadal a challenge the Serb likened to scaling Mt. Everest in a semifinal that lasted more than four hours Friday night.
That was only Nadal's third career loss in 108 matches at the clay-court major tournament.
Djokovic also defeated Nadal in Paris in 2015 before losing that year's final, and it appeared as if the same fate was waiting Sunday.
Djokovic looked drained early, and the 22-year-old Tsitsipas had the upper hand for two sets.
"It was not easy for me, both physically and mentally," Djokovic said, "especially over the past two or three days.
Eventually, though, Djokovic started making fewer mistakes, got his best-in-the-game returning on track and served so flawlessly down the stretch that he did not face a single break point over the last three sets.
That enabled him to complete his sixth career comeback from two sets down and second of the past week.
Indeed, the International Tennis Federation said Djokovic who trailed 19-year-old Lorenzo Musetti two sets to none in the fourth round is the first man in the professional era to win a Grand Slam tournament after twice facing a 2-0 deficit in sets.
Experience could have been a factor, too.
This was the first major final for Tsitsipas and 29th for Djokovic, who also won the French Open in 2016, along with nine titles at the Australian Open, five at Wimbledon and three at the U.S. Open.
Of just as much, if not more, significance to the ultimate outcome Sunday: Djokovic entered the day with a 34-10 record in five-setters including a men's-record 31 wins in Grand Slam matches of that length while Tsitsipas was 5-4.
On a sunny and breezy afternoon, with the temperature approaching 80 degrees Fahrenheit (over 25 degrees Celsius), Tsitsipas needed just over 100 minutes to grab a big lead Sunday.
A supreme returner and imposer of his will, Djokovic grabbed early breaks of serve in each of the third, fourth and fifth sets.
Shadows were spreading across the court as the sun descended in the early evening and, though Djokovic complained that the artificial lights were switched on, he shined when it mattered the most.
This was another match that lasted more than four hours, and Djokovic was up to the task again.
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Court allows 5-day police custody of Bibhav Kumar in Swati Maliwal assault case
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court allowed five-day custodial interrogation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar in the Swati Maliwal assault case, sing the police remand was a "necessity" in the matter.
Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Goyal was hearing the application of Delhi Police which was represented by Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava. The police had sought seven day custody.
It is alleged that Kumar, who is Kejriwal's personal assistant, assaulted AAP MP Swati Maliwal at the CM's residence on May 13.
"Considering the submissions made on behalf of both the parties, I find there is a necessity of police custody remand in the present case. Accordingly, the application moved by the investigating officer (IO) is partly allowed and the accused is remanded to police custody for five days," the court said in its order passed around 12:45 AM Sunday.
It noted the prosecution's submissions about the need to take Kumar to Mumbai and other parts of the national capital to collect evidence, which was not possible without the accused's custody.
"Admittedly, the case is at a nascent stage. Allegations made in the FIR are corroborated in her (Maliwal's) statement recorded by the magistrate on oath and further, it is again corroborated in the medico-legal case (MLC) of the victim or complainant," the court said.
The magistrate also observed, "I am aware of the view of constitutional courts that the opportunity must be given to the investigating agency to complete the investigation in order to reach the truth of the matter but at the same time the rights of the accused are also to be protected."
Asking the Investigating Officer to take Kumar into formal custody, the court directed his medical examination every 24 hours and said the investigating agency would not subject the accused to "any torture."
It also allowed Kumar to meet his advocate and wife for half an hour each during the police custody.
Kumar's application for providing requisite medicines was also allowed.
The proceedings which commenced around 9: 15 PM Saturday saw initial arguments by Srivastava following which the magistrate said, "I find force in the arguments of the APP (Additional Public Prosecutor) that there were sufficient grounds to arrest the accused without notice."
The prosecutor made several arguments, including those mentioned in the remand application and also that the "means or weapon" by which Kumar assaulted Maliwal had to be recovered.
The vehement counter-arguments by Kumar's counsels continued for more than one-and-a-half hours. One of his counsels, Rajiv Mohan, claimed that Maliwal had lodged the FIR "belatedly after deliberation and concoction."
The Delhi Police arrested Kumar earlier on Saturday and his anticipatory bail plea was subsequently observed as becoming "infructuous" by a Delhi court.
