Tennis
Novak Djokovic basks in Olympic glory, becomes oldest player to win gold
As Djokovic won his much-awaited gold medal at the Paris Olympics 2024, the Serbian became the fifth player in tennis history to achieve Career Golden Slam.
Novak Djokovic finally secured the long-elusive gold medal of his career at the Paris Olympics. (Photo Credit: Getty)
Roland Garros erupted in cheers when Novak Djokovic finally added the golden hue of the Olympics to his illustrious career.
Djokovic has the highest number of Grand Slam titles (24), yet the feather on his cap - Olympic gold - was missing for years. He changed that anomaly on Sunday when he beat Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the men's singles final in Paris.
There were pent-up emotions on Djokovic's face as he savoured the desired moment. His hands were trembling, and tears of joy were streaming down his cheeks as he embraced the achievement of fulfilling his lifelong dream.
It was Serbia's second gold medal at the Paris Olympics 2024.
In the mouth-watering final, the 37-year-old Djokovic faced the 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in a clash of two generations.
The two had met in the Wimbledon final less than a month ago, where the Spaniard had the upper hand, replicating his 2023 victory at the same Slam.
Additionally, Alcaraz won the French Open on Court Philippe Chatrier in June. With these advantages, debutant Alcaraz was tipped favourite to win the gold medal against Djokovic.
The two started the final with fiery passion, trading games set by set. Dotting every i and crossing every t, both players were meticulous in their shot selection and unwilling to give away points easily.
With his right knee strapped and experiencing pain that had flared up during his quarter-final clash against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Djokovic was facing a significant challenge.
He won the match overcoming the discomfort. Additionally, Djokovic had previously torn the meniscus in his right knee at the same venue during the fourth round of the French Open last June, leading to his withdrawal.
Despite these challenges, Djokovic matched the intensity of the speedy Alcaraz who was dubbed Rafael Nadal 2.0 by the commentators in Paris, keeping the sets neck and neck.
A fierce battle
The opening set of the summit clash at the Olympic final lasted over one and a half hours, with both players wanting to take an early lead.
Despite featuring 13 breakpoints, neither player managed to break the other's serve. With 8 break points in Alcaraz’s favour, Djokovic successfully weathered the Spaniard’s challenge, leading to a tie-break.
At 3-3 in the tie-break, the Serbian drew on all his experience in the all-important final of his life bringing the triumph a little closer. He won the next 4 points and closed the first set in his favour.
The decisive second set showed that Djokovic was fully committed to winning. However, Alcaraz displayed no drop in energy or confidence despite being a set down. The Spaniard moved as swiftly as a panther to retrieve Djokovic’s line shots with utmost precision.
Contrary to the first set, the second set featured fewer chances to gain an advantage by winning points on each other’s serve.
Djokovic continued to use pace variations in his game to keep Alcaraz on his toes, forcing him to commit errors, but the Spaniard remained unfazed and kept coming back with some trademark shots of his own.
At 6-5 in the second set, Alcaraz had only one set to take advantage of and level the scores.
But little did he know that the Serbian would serve his way to another tie-break.
The outcome of the tie-break was scripted into the history books as Djokovic won the next four points in a row after being tied 2-2 to secure the match in straight sets 7-6, and the long-elusive gold medal.
A figure of legendary status
With 24 Grand Slams in his kitty and an Olympic bronze medal from Beijing 2008, the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics marked the coming of the age moment for Djokovic.
After not advancing beyond the semifinals in the London 2012 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics and a disappointing first-round exit in the Rio 2016 Olympics, Djokovic never missed the mark in Paris.
The Serbian became only the fifth player in tennis history, after Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams to achieve the Career Golden Slam - the honour of winning all four Grand Slam titles and the Olympic gold.
At 37, with the twilight of his career looming, Djokovic managed to pull off one of the most sensational wins, becoming the oldest man in men's singles tennis to win gold since 1908. The long wait was finally over for the Serbian as he secured his most prized possession.
