Novak Djokovic finally got his hands on the one piece of silverware missing from his trophy case: the Olympic gold medal.
The Serbian tennis great beat Carlos Alcaraz 7-6, 7-6 in an enthralling men’s singles final at Roland Garros on Sunday (4 August).
Djokovic adds the gold medal to the bronze he won in Beijing 2008 to complete a historic ‘Golden Slam’ at Roland Garros on Sunday.
The record 24-time Grand Slam champion dropped to his knees and elbows as he was overcome by the gravity of the moment. For a few moments, Djokovic was seen trembling on the red clay of Court Phillipe-Chatrier.
Already considered the greatest male player of all time, Djokovic became the fifth in an elite group of players to complete the ‘Golden Slam’ – winning all four major titles and the Olympic singles gold. He joins Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi , Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams to achieve the feat.
The match was billed as the dream cross-generational clash pitting the 21-year-old Alcaraz against the 37-year-old Djokovic, the youngest and oldest to contest a singles gold medal since 1988.
The contest lived up to the hype as none of the players would give an inch resulting in two tiebreakers, with Djokovic finding the edge in to win in straight sets with the match lasting just short of three hours.
Djokovic dished out some payback after Alcaraz’s back-to-back finals victory over the Serb at Wimbledon last month.
“When the last shot went past him, that was the only moment I actually thought I could win the match. I mean I believed that I could win, but to actually win it, because he keeps on coming back. He keeps on asking me to play my best tennis,” Djokovic said after the match.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m still in shock, honestly. I put my heart, my soul, my body, my family, my everything on the line to win Olympic gold at age 37. I finally did it.”
Alcaraz sat stunned and in tears after the draining match but would bow out of his maiden Olympics with a silver medal while sharing in a historic contest.