Roland Garros has long been Rafael Nadal's territory. But after disposing of the Spaniard in the semifinals, Novak Djokovic clawed back a two set deficit to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, of Greece,  6-7 (6/8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 and claim the trophy for the first time since 2016 on Sunday.

"It was an electric atmosphere," said Djokovic after the four-hour 11-minute final. It's a dream. It's difficult to win the title against a great player. It was a difficult three days physically and mentally."

The victory puts Djokovic on 19 Grand Slam titles, one behind Roger Federer and Nadal in in era of incredible dominance from the three players.

The 34-year-old also became the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win all four Slams on multiple occasions and just the third in history. 

But this was far from straightforward, with the man who beat Alexander Zverev in the semifinal taking advantage of a rare lack of ruthlessness from Djokovic to claim the opener in a tie break after Djokovic failed to serve out the set and missed a set point.

Djokovic looked weary in the heat and was broken in the first game of the second set, before failing to recover. But, just as he had earlier in the tournament against unseeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti, Djokovic roared back to take the next three sets. He's a man who never accepts that he's beaten.

"I have played almost nine hours over the last 48 hours against two great champions, it was really tough physically over the last three days, but I trusted in my capabilities and knew I could do it," Djokovic added.