Novak Djokovic claims gold at Paris Olympics 2024, also completes Career Golden Slam

Novak Djokovic becomes the oldest Olympic tennis gold medalist.

Novak Djokovic defeated Carlos Alcaraz to claim the Olympic gold in tennis for the first time with a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) win over the Spaniard. It was the missing puzzle piece for Djokovic that is now complete, making him the oldest player to secure the gold medal at 37 years and 74 days, since the sport once again made it to the Olympic fold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Novak Djokovic who turned up for Sunday’s gold medal match was not the same man who lost the Wimbledon final for the second time to Carlos Alcaraz in the third week of July. Coming in as the underdog, the Serb did well on his first serve, 69/93 (74%) and the crucial points for a straight sets win over his Spanish rival.

The breakthrough came in the first set tiebreak for Djokovic when he broke Alcaraz to go up 4-3, before wrapping up the opening set 7-3 with a forehand volley. A similar sequence of events occurred in the second set, with both players holding serve and Djokovic ending the score at 6-6, winning a love game on serve. 

In the tiebreak that followed, the World No. 2 reeled off five points in a row at 2-2 to win his first Olympic gold. A forehand winner from the Serb settled the matter and ended the Spaniard’s hopes of becoming the first from his country to win an Olympic gold since Rafael Nadal. Djokovic now leads their overall head-to-head 4-3.

The 2-hour, 50-minute match saw Alcaraz hit 33 winners, but making 43 forced errors and another 33 unforced errors meant the Spaniard was unable to salvage the match.

Novak Djokovic has taken over an entire basket of records following his gold medal win at the tennis singles event in Paris. The most notable of them all is winning the Career Golden Slam – winning all four Grand Slams and the Olympic gold.  Only four other players in tennis history have achieved that feat – Steffi Graff, Andre Agassi, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal.

The Serbian is the only other player alongside Andre Agassi to have won all four Grand Slams, the ATP Finals and an Olympic gold in the Open Era. He will also go down in the record books as the first player to win all four Grand Slams, the ATP Finals, each of the nine ATP Masters 1000 events and now, the Olympic gold.

While the singles event ended with Novak Djokovic taking the gold, it ended in tears for Carlos Alcaraz. The young Spaniard was a clear favourite, having won the Channel Slam this season. Instead, the man tipped as Nadal’s successor will have to wait another four years for a chance to claim Olympic gold in Los Angeles in 2028.

The man of the hour, Djokovic, added the only big prize to elude him for long, on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Sunday. The Serb has a bronze medal from the 2008 Beijing Games. At the 2012 London and 2020 Tokyo Games, he lost in the semi-final round. He will look to defend his 2023 US Open title later in August. The season’s final Grand Slam will get underway in three weeks’ time on August 26th.

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