Tennis Competition at the Olympics - Djokovic is finally an Olympic champion
Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic broke down in tears as he knelt on the red clay and then embraced his daughter Tara on the tribune. With immense determination, the 37-year-old secured his first Olympic gold medal in a career filled with records. Djokovic narrowly defeated French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz 7:6 (7:3), 7:6 (7:2) in an exciting and high-quality final at the Summer Games in France, leaving him overwhelmed with emotion.
"I'm incredibly grateful for the blessing of winning this historic gold for my country and completing the Golden Slam," said the Serbian, ecstatically adding, "My career puzzle is now complete."
Djokovic succeeded Tokyo Olympics champion Alexander Zverev and avenged his Wimbledon final loss to the 21-year-old Spaniard. After 2 hours and 50 minutes, Djokovic converted his first match point. In the audience, his daughter Tara wore a gold medal, waving Serbian flags along with son Stefan.
Touched, Djokovic patted his heart during the medal ceremony before receiving the gold medal from IOC President Thomas Bach. Beaming with pride, he sang the Serbian national anthem.
Djokovic's perhaps final chance
Djokovic was determined to erase the blemish of not winning an Olympic gold. His fifth Summer Games may have been his last chance, as he would be 41 in 2028. In front of around 15,000 spectators, the Serbian record Grand Slam winner defeated Alcaraz on the red clay in Paris by reaching his top level and sliding and sprinting across the court as if his early June knee injury never existed. This is his second Olympic medal, after bronze in 2008 in Beijing.
Like Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams, Djokovic has now achieved the Golden Slam in his career, winning all four Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympics. "Well done, champ," Boris Becker wrote to his former protégé Djokovic on X.
Djokovic stopped the winning streak of silver medalist Alcaraz, who had recently triumphed at the French Open and Wimbledon. Bronze went to Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who had defeated Zverev.
First set longer than Zverev's Olympic final
Three weeks after the Wimbledon final, the atmosphere on Court Philippe-Chatrier was great from the start. The two protagonists fought fiercely for every point in the first set. The tension of the first section culminated in the tiebreak, which Djokovic won with four consecutive points. The first set alone lasted 93 minutes, longer than the entire final three years ago in Japan, when Zverev barely gave Russian Karen Chatschanov a chance in just 79 minutes.
The second set continued with intense rallies and tension. Again, both finalists held all their service games, leading to another tiebreak. Once again, Djokovic was the better player in this crucial moment.
In the exhilarating final game of the Summer Games, Novak Djokovic clinched his first Olympic gold medal, successfully avenging his Wimbledon loss to Carlos Alcaraz. With this triumph, Djokovic's perhaps final chance at an Olympic gold medal in Paris seemed like a fitting culmination to his illustrious career, marking his potential final game with an Olympic title.
