And now, he has it all. 

The 37-year-old Serbian, winner of 24 grand slam titles, 40 Masters 1000 events and just about every other honour or record worth mentioning, defeated Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2) at Roland Garros to claim the one thing he didn’t have: an Olympic gold medal.

After almost three hours of spellbinding, gladiatorial tennis, Djokovic delivered a last magisterial forehand to conclude a tiebreak that had been full of them, then turned to his family in the stands in a semi-crouch, his arms spread, before burying his head in his hands. Soon he was up in the stands celebrating with them, although not before offering Alcaraz a consolatory embrace and then dropping to his knees on the court, salt tears mingling with red clay.

Djokovic had good cause to be emotional. Some of the best players in history have finished their careers with notable gaps on their résumés. Ken Rosewall and Ivan Lendl both won eight majors, but neither tasted success at Wimbledon. Bjorn Borg lost four US Open finals. Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Pete Sampras could not win the French Open. And in his own gilded era, Djokovic was the odd man out among the big four – himself, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray – in not owning an Olympic gold medal (even if Federer’s was won in doubles).

Not any more. Now Djokovic has the one, last prize he coveted – and, with it, membership of the most exclusive club in tennis. Only Nadal, Andre Agassi, Serena Williams and Steffi Graf have previously won a career golden slam of all four majors plus Olympic gold. Now Djokovic joins that elite group, the oldest man to win gold since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988. His victory, which he described as the greatest of his career, is all the more remarkable for coming just two months after he underwent knee surgery.

“I won the bronze in my first Olympic Games [in Beijing in 2008] and ever since then failed to win the medal,” said Djokovic, reflecting on an Olympic journey that has included defeats to Nadal in 2008, Juan Martín del Potro at London 2012 and Rio 2016, and Alexander Zverev at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games of 2021. 

“[I] played three out of four Olympic Games in semi-finals and couldn’t overcome that obstacle. And then now at age 37, with a 21-year-old that is probably the best player in the world right now, winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back and playing incredible tennis.

“When I take everything into consideration, this probably is the biggest sporting success I’ve ever had in my career.”

As always with the Olympics, the significance of victory ranged beyond purely personal achievement. Djokovic’s love of Serbia runs deep. When he led his country to a maiden Davis Cup win in 2010, he had just one grand slam title; by the end of the following year, he had won a further three. But if success with Serbia was the catalyst for his historic rise, it has also been a millstone at the Olympics, where his litany of setbacks seemed to stem largely from just wanting it too much. Victory over Alcaraz brought sensations that even he has not previously experienced.

“Until today, I thought that carrying the Serbian flag at the 2012 opening ceremony in London is the best feeling that an athlete could have,” said Djokovic. “This kind of supersedes everything that I imagined, that I hoped that I could experience and that I could feel.”

For Alcaraz, who fought off all six break points he faced, matching Djokovic step for step until he was suffocated by the Serb in the tiebreaks, it was the toughest of defeats to take. He has risen to the occasion in each of the four grand slam finals he has contested so far in his career, and here again he was not found wanting. It was simply his misfortune to run into Djokovic on a stage where the ageing champion could no longer afford to be denied. Like Iga Swiatek following her shock semi-final loss to Qinwen Zheng, Alcaraz struggled to retain his composure in the immediate aftermath of defeat, breaking off a broadcast interview with Eurosport’s Alex Corretja to wipe away tears.

“It’s a little bit different,” Alcaraz later explained, comparing his Olympic experience with playing other major finals. “I was playing for the gold medal, I was playing for Spain, and it is not the same. I have played four grand slam finals and in the difficult moments, in the tough situations, I increased my level, I played really great tennis.

“Today, probably I felt more the pressure. Maybe other players are not playing in the same way or feeling the pressure about playing for his flag, for his country. Probably myself, I felt the pressure in those situations [to the point where] I couldn’t play my best tennis. So I could feel the difference about playing grand slams and playing the final of Olympic Games.”

It is a distinction with which Djokovic is all too familiar, and the way he went about his business made it clear he had no appetite to explore it further. In a match of unrelenting intensity and brilliant shot-making from both men, Alcaraz fashioned eight break points, five of which came as he pushed for a breakthrough in the ninth game of the opener. But Djokovic saved them all, hitting his spots time and again, following his serve to the net, constantly keeping the younger man on his toes. 

Djokovic would show similar resilience in the tiebreak that followed, chasing every ball, closing down the net with urgency and intent, and finally lunging to seal the opener with an immaculate drop volley. By the time the second tiebreak came around, Djokovic was ripping forehands with abandon, determined that the prize he has yearned after for so long would not escape him again.

“I don’t know what to say, I’m still in shock,” said Djokovic. “I put my heart, my soul, my body, my family, my everything on the line to win Olympic gold at age 37. Finally, I did it.”

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In a country of 1.4 billion people that previously had no meaningful record in tennis, Li was a trailblazer, an example to follow where previously there were none. Her success revolutionised the sport in China, which according to the International Tennis Federation now has more tennis players than any other nation in the world. 

But while Li has undeniably been an inspiration, she is also a tough act to follow. In Melbourne, Zheng was unable to mark the 10th anniversary of her fellow countrywoman’s Australian Open success with another Chinese victory, losing the final to Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets. But the 21-year-old has given everything in pursuit of her dream, leaving her home in Shiyan at the age of seven to train in Wuhan, some 275 miles away, and immediately her thoughts turned to improving her game, to taking the final step. 

“I just hope next time I can come back as a better tennis player,” said Zheng.

On Saturday afternoon, she did just that. At Roland Garros, the scene of Li’s first major title in 2011, Zheng emerged from the shadow of her celebrated predecessor by defeating Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-2, 6-3, in the process becoming the first Chinese player to win an Olympic gold medal in singles. She did it by meeting the moment; by channelling the disappointment she felt in Australia, where she felt the weight of the occasion all too keenly; by ensuring that, this time, she remained focused and composed.

“I had a lot of nerves [in the Australian Open final,” said Zheng. “My legs were super heavy. I couldn’t perform 50% of my level. But this final was different.

“It’s because of [my] calmness and patience that I was able to get the victory.”

As that analysis might suggest, the match was not a classic. For Vekic, playing the biggest match of her career barely three weeks after contesting what was previously the biggest match of her career, a heart-breaking defeat to Jasmine Paolini in the Wimbledon semi-finals, inspiration came in fits and starts. A slow start from the 28-year-old set the tone, Vekic surrendering her opening service game with a string of unforced errors, and for the remainder of the afternoon she would be playing catch-up. 

Struggling to find her range in conditions that were breezier than they have been of late in the French capital, Vekic was unable to land her booming forehand with the consistency required to halt Zheng’s march. The baseline exchanges were tightly contested, but too often they went in Zheng’s favour, denying Vekic the chance to build scoreboard pressure. The quality of the world No 7’s defensive play did not help the Croatian’s cause, with Vekic obliged to win each point several times over in the face of Zheng’s tireless retrieving. Inevitably, Vekic was forced to overpress. She would end the afternoon with 31 unforced errors to just 13 winners, a statistic that told its own story. 

Yet for all her evident frustration, it has been a momentous summer for Vekic. Her run to the gold medal match, on a surface where she has never reached a tour-level final – and hard on the heels of a physically and emotionally draining run to a first grand slam semi-final – came only weeks after she considered quitting the game altogether. That nadir came before the French Open, when she felt she was giving everything without getting the results she craved. After defeating second seed Coco Gauff in straight sets, saving a match point in a late-night thriller against Marta Kostyuk, and laying her semi-final demons to rest with an emphatic win over Anna Karolina Scmiedlova, Vekic can have no complaints on that score now.

“After the Wimbledon semi-finals, I had so much pain everywhere that I was debating going to the Olympics, because I thought, ‘In these conditions, there’s no way I can win a medal,’” said Vekic. 

“I had pain in my arm, pain in my ankle. I was sick. Everything was happening all at once. When we came here, our flight was cancelled, and we arrived late. Everything was going wrong. When we had our first practice, I told my coach, ‘I am coughing so bad I can’t make two shots in a row.’ One week later, we have a medal, so it’s been absolutely incredible.”

Zheng too has overcome the odds, saving a match point against Emma Navarro, then battling back from 4-1 down in the decider in the quarter-finals to send Angelique Kerber into retirement. Her semi-final win over Iga Swiatek, meanwhile, where she recovered from 4-0 down in the second set, was her first in seven meetings with the Polish world No 1. If the belief she took from that win sustained her against Vekic, a gold medal will sustain her for a good while longer. 

“When I became the Olympic champion, I felt a huge burden was lifted off my shoulders,” said Zheng. “Mentally, I feel a lot lighter going forward. Finally, I am able to say to my family, to my father, ‘Come on, I just made history!’”

While a childhood dream has been realised, however, there remains more to do. Zheng may have eclipsed Li as an Olympian – the retired champion’s best result was a fourth-placed finish at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing – but now she must match her childhood idol on the grand slam stage. Now she is the player to emulate, the inspiration for the next generation of Chinese champions. 

“I have always been jealous of history-makers like Li Na,” said Zheng. “No matter what, she’s always the first, because she’s the first Asian player to win a grand slam. And I now become the first Asian player to win Olympic gold. I made history, as well. 

“However, I still have a long way to go, because winning a grand slam is always my dream.”

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Seconds later, his Olympic men’s doubles challenge alongside Dan Evans would be over. But the wonder was not that the British thirtysomethings were outgunned 6-2, 6-4 by their American opponents, both of whom are ranked just outside the top 10 in singles and in the prime of their careers. The real marvel, after saving five match points against Japan’s Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori in the opening round, and then another two against Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen of Belgium in the second, was that Murray and Evans reached the quarter-finals in the first place. 

By any normal reckoning, Murray should not have been in Paris at all. It is barely a month since he underwent surgery to have a spinal cyst removed, a procedure that requires a six-week recovery period for most people. But Murray is not most people, and little about his career has been normal. Before he went under the knife, doctors told him he would miss both Wimbledon and the Olympics. Predictably, he played both, metal hip and all. Of course he did. Few athletes have taken more delight in confounding medical opinion. Yet the pain he endured to make it happen should not be underestimated.

“It’s been really hard,” said Murray. “Physically, pain wise, I feel bad. Physically, I can obviously can go on the court and perform at a level that’s competitive. We were close to getting in the medal rounds here. That’s OK. But the pain and discomfort in my body is not good, and that’s why I’m happy to be finishing. 

“Because if I kept going and kept trying, eventually you end up having an injury potentially ending your career. So I know that now is the right time, and physically.”

Endings are rarely perfect, and against Fritz and Paul it was a losing battle from the outset. In an ideal world, Murray’s body would have allowed him a last stand on the singles court, as he had planned. Even so, it would be hard to imagine a more apt scenario for his farewell campaign, certainly in this final, injury-plagued phase of his career. He has battled his body from the moment he first impacted on the public consciousness as a gangly teenager on the grass courts of Queen’s Club in 2005, when he was seized by cramp, dramatically crashing to the turf as though picked off by a lurking sniper, in a last-16 defeat to Sweden’s Thomas Johannson. 

Cramp got the better of Murray again a couple of weeks later at Wimbledon, derailing him in the closing stages of a five-set struggle with former finalist David Nalbandian. The need to build a body capable of withstanding the demands of the tour was clear, and so Murray set about transforming himself into one of the tour’s fittest, most durable athletes. His brutal Miami training blocks became part of tennis folklore. When he reached his first Wimbledon quarter-final in 2008, he famously celebrated by pulling up his sleeve to reveal a flexed bicep, a signal to his team that the hard miles were paying off. 

Murray would ultimately pay a heavy price for his punishing training regime and seemingly limitless capacity for suffering. But by the time the pain in his right hip began to sound the death knell on his best years, at Wimbledon in 2017 – where, effectively playing on one leg, he came within a set of the semi-finals – his legacy had long since been secured. No longer simply Andy, he had become “The first British man to…”, an epithet virtually interchangeable with his first name. The first British man to win an Olympic singles gold medal since 1908. The first British man to win the US Open in 76 years; the first to reach a Wimbledon final in 74 years, the first to win one in 77 years, and the linchpin of the first British team to win the Davis Cup since 1936. What more apposite way to go out than defying his body one last time, on a stage that has defined his career?

Murray’s physical transformation was just one aspect of his refusal to accept the hand fate dealt him. Stronger yet was his will, so powerful that it reshaped the reality around him. For Murray was not the greatest player of his generation; Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic saw to that. Even when rankings or form or draws suggested otherwise, it rarely seemed likely that Murray would reach grand slam finals ahead of that feted trio. But he did it time and again, making a mockery of logic and outside expectations. Murray became the fourth voice in a three-way conversation, refusing to be silenced. His talent was undeniable, but it was as much Murray’s tenacity, his sheer stubbornness, that enabled him to contest 11 major finals, win three, and become only the 10th man in the open era to reach the title round at all four.

In a sense, Murray’s career has been a web of paradoxes and impossibilities. He was never the best until he was the best. That moment came in 2016, his annus mirabilis, when Murray finished the season by winning five straight tournaments, culminating with the ATP Finals, where he dislodged Djokovic as world No 1. In the toughest era there has ever been, he retained that position for 41 weeks until his body betrayed him. Murray was the man who could, even when it seemed others should; a player who left an indelible imprint on the sport at a time when it seemed nigh-on impossible to do so. 

Consider what today’s tennis landscape would look like without Murray. Had he not beaten Djokovic in the US Open final of 2012 and then again at Wimbledon the following summer, the Serb would already be out on his own with 26 majors, clear of Margaret Court as the most successful player in history. Federer would have an Olympic gold medal in singles, the only significant honour to elude him. Nadal, whom Murray defeated for the first time in the 2008 US Open semi-finals, might have gone on to beat Federer in the final of a third consecutive major, a victory that would have seen the Spaniard complete a non-calendar year grand slam at the 2009 Australian Open.

More often, of course, Murray was bested by those players. Djokovic denied him the winner’s trophy four times at the Australian Open and once at Roland Garros. Federer thwarted him in finals at Melbourne Park, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows. But all the near misses and disappointments only made Murray’s victories more meaningful. In an age of tennis immortals, his often tearful setbacks made him relatable in a way that the near-infallibility of his rivals never could.

Murray’s authenticity, his willingness to bare his emotions, to fail and keep coming back for more, is one of the reasons why he was so widely beloved. After a stuttering start with the British public, who initially failed to warm to his dry humour – particularly his infamous quip about wanting “anyone but England” to win the 2006 World Cup – Murray’s emotional speech after losing the 2012 Wimbledon final won hearts and minds aplenty. A month later, as he avenged that defeat against Federer on Centre Court to win the first of his two Olympic gold medals, he was cheered to the rafters. His love affair with the people had begun in earnest.

Even so, it wasn’t always pretty. The flipside of Murray’s authenticity was the incessant chuntering, the swearing, the furious broadsides he so often directed at his hapless support teams. A poker player he was not. 

“I wish I’d behaved differently at times on the court,” said Murray. “But there’s lots of things, like my character on the court, that I did like.”

No less agreeable was his character away from the court. Taught to play by his mother, Judy, a former Scottish No 1, Murray had a natural respect for the women’s game and, typically, was no more afraid to articulate it than he was to appoint Amélie Mauresmo as his coach. After losing at Wimbledon in 2017, he memorably took to task a reporter who suggested that his vanquisher, Sam Querrey, was the first American player to reach a major semi-final since 2009. “Male player,” Murray shot back, mindful of the achievements of Venus and Serena Williams, the latter of whom he would partner two years later in the Wimbledon mixed doubles. 

Thoughtful and eloquent, Murray gradually was not only a champion for the WTA, but also a spokesman for his sport, and perhaps even its voice and conscience. He never shirked difficult questions. From the use of technology and the abuse of bathroom breaks to scheduling issues and the ATP’s lack of a domestic violence policy, whenever there was an issue to be discussed, Murray’s opinion was always among the first sought. He was invariably worth listening to.

No appraisal of Murray’s achievements would be complete without a respectful nod to the final phase of his career. After an emotionally-charged press conference at the 2019 Australian Open in which he said his ailing hip would no longer allow him to compete effectively, Murray looked to be done and dusted. An arthroscopic procedure the previous year hadn’t worked as well as hoped, and he was unsure he would even be able to limp on for long enough to bow out at Wimbledon. 

A fortnight after a valiant five-set defeat to Roberto Bautista Agut, which was followed by a farewell video tribute featuring contributions from Djokovic, Nadal and Federer, Murray returned to the operating table, having a metal hip installed. No player had successfully returned to top-flight singles after undergoing such a procedure.

Five months later, however, Murray resurfaced on the grass courts of Queen’s Club and won the doubles title alongside Feliciano López. By October, he had claimed the 46th title of his career at the European Open in Antwerp. And while that was the last trophy Murray would lift, he continued to break new ground. 

At last year’s Australian Open, he saved a match point to edge a near-five hour first-round thriller against Matteo Berrettini, then returned less than 48 hours later to win the longest match of his career, recovering from two sets to love and a break down to beat Thanasi Kokkinakis in five hours and 45 minutes. That match, which finished at 4.05am, was the second longest in Australian Open history. It was typical of Murray’s warrior-like mentality – he never did go in for the routine – and yet, in the circumstances, those feats of endurance felt almost superhuman. 

Last August, Murray achieved a ranking of 36th in the world, the highest he would climb with his resurfaced hip. In a sense, it was a milestone almost as great as any in his career. But in recent months, his body has failed him with growing frequency. In March, he ruptured ankle ligaments in Miami; no sooner had he returned, just in time to compete in one last French Open, than his back began to deteriorate. There were only so many more times he could achieve the impossible. It was time to go. 

“I’m happy with how it finished,” said Murray. “I’m glad I got to go out here at the Olympics and finish on my terms, because at times in the last few years that wasn’t a certainty.”

In truth, there were never any certainties. Scotland didn’t produce tennis stars; not world-beating ones like Murray at any rate. But from humble beginnings at his local club in Dunblane, where he started playing aged three and honed his competitive instincts, as younger siblings so often do, against his brother Jamie, a future doubles world No 1, Murray rose to conquer the world. That, perhaps, was the biggest impossibility of all.

“If I went back to the beginning of my career, when I started in Scotland, no one standing here, myself included and my family, none of them, would have expected that I would have gone on to do what I did,” said Murray. “Even when I was 18, 19 years old, there were still a lot of people who doubted my ability, talent, work ethic and mentality.”

No one doubts him now.

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In an unsettled, error-strewn performance at Roland Garros, where she has won the French Open in four of the past five years, the Polish world No 1 slipped to a shock straight-sets loss to Qinwen Zheng of China. The defeat ends a run of 25 straight victories for Swiatek on the Parisian clay, where she was last beaten by Maria Sakkari in 2021. 

With her 6-2, 7-5 victory, her sole success in seven meetings with Swiatek, Zheng becomes the first Chinese player in history to reach an Olympic singles final. The 21-year-old, a debutant at the Games, will now face either Donna Vekic or Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in Saturday’s final.

“I finally showed I could beat the world No 1 on her best surface, at Roland Garros,” said Zheng, who pushed Swiatek to a decider in the last 16 of the French Open two summers ago. “That means everything, because I always knew I could do it. But it’s different that you know you can and that you show it. Today, I really showed it. I’m so proud of myself. I am so proud for my country.”

Swiatek too feels the pride of playing for her country, perhaps a little too keenly. Her father, Tomasz, rowed for Poland in the Seoul Olympics of 1988, competing in the quadruple sculls, and family history appeared to weigh heavily on her here, just as it did three years ago in Tokyo, when she was inconsolable following a second-round loss to Paula Badosa. 

If there were any doubt about how much the chance to compete for a gold medal at her favourite venue meant to the 23-year-old, it was dispelled by the evident anxiety in her play. By the 36 unforced errors she made, many of them on her normally uber-reliable backhand. By the way she was unable to capitalise on a 4-0 lead in the second set. By her inability to deal with Zheng’s changes of pace. By the way she broke down afterwards in an interview with Eurosport Poland before declining to speak to the written press.

“I had a hole in my backhand,” said Swiatek, who certainly could have done without the horrible shanked return off that wing that cost her the chance to bring up two break points as Zheng served for the match. “It happens rarely, because it’s usually my most solid stroke.

“I was not technically well positioned because of the stress, and the fact that I played my games day by day. We didn’t have time to adjust that and work on that. I know that’s not the justification, but I tried to correct that during the match. Today, it didn’t work at all. So she used that to win the game.”

Whatever the deficiencies in Swiatek’s game on the day, the excellence of Zheng was undeniable. She handled the pressure of the occasion magnificently, playing with clarity and purpose when she fell behind in the second set, and showed the courage of her convictions in the key moments. That was never more apparent than when Swiatek held a break point to send the second set into a tiebreak. Just as she had done late in her victory over Angelique Kerber in the previous round, Zheng conjured a wonderful drop shot to turn the tide back in her favour, wrong-footing Swiatek, who could not control her attempted pick-up. Moments later, Zheng was falling back in triumph on the clay, another echo of her win against Kerber.

“From 4-0, I think the key was just to play every single point,” said Zheng. “I remember before when I was at this stage, I [would] let it go. I [would] say, ‘OK, I’ve lost this set, let’s fight for the third.’ But today, no. I didn’t have this mentality. I said, ‘I’m just going to fight every single point. Let’s see what’s going to happen. I’m going to play smart, wait for my chance.’ Little by little, I started to get back into the match.”

On Saturday, Zheng, the runner-up at this year’s Australian Open, will bring that newfound mental steel into what she will surely regard as the biggest match of her career. On this evidence, she will take some stopping.

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So despite announcing that she would retire after these Olympics, when the end came, the 36-year-old German was never going to go gently into that good night. Instead, Kerber did what she has always done: she gave everything, ran from first ball to last, conjured improbable angles at full stretch. Crouching low to the court in signature fashion, she absorbed and redirected the ferocious firepower of Qinwen Zheng, the Chinese world No 7, confounding an opponent 15 years her junior with changes of pace, spin and height.

And when none of that proved quite enough, and she had blown a 4-1 lead in the decider and found herself three match points down in the last tiebreak of her career, Kerber produced a magnificent final flourish. She defiantly drilled an untouchable forehand return down the line to save one match point. She pulled Zheng from corner to corner before flicking an audacious cross-court winner to fend off another. And then, as a cagey 19-shot rally drained the air from her already burning lungs, Kerber opened her shoulders and found the baseline with the sweetest of backhands, levelling the score once again. It was the perfect vignette of her unique style, a counterpuncher with a deadly southpaw edge, as happy throwing up moonballs as lasering geometry-defying forehands at full pelt.

But Zheng too has something of the very best about her. The 21-year-old reached her first major final six months ago at the Australian Open, and her response spoke of even bigger things to come. Zheng may never play a more courageous, clear-headed drop shot than the one she produced to bring up a fourth match point. She would not be denied again. The final shot of Kerber’s career was a forehand that nosedived into the net, confirm a 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) defeat.

There are worse ways to go than in a final-set tiebreak. Even so, it was an incongruous ending. In one way, the moment belonged to Kerber. Yet there was undeniable power in the sight of a tearful Zheng falling to the clay in celebration, overwhelmed by the enormity of becoming only the second Chinese player to reach an Olympic semi-final. Kerber knows as well as anyone what such moments feel like. But she has of late become increasingly familiar with the sting of defeat. Having arrived in Paris off the back of five straight losses, her run to the quarter-finals – the first time she has reached that stage of a tournament in two years – felt touched by magic. It was, as she acknowledged, a good time to stop.

“There are a lot of emotions,” said Kerber, who defeated Naomi Osaka, Jaqueline Cristian and Leylah Fernandez to make the last eight. “I gave everything I could on court, and I think this is what counts for me. Especially coming here, playing great matches, feeling that I can still play with the top players and having this decision in my hands, to have no injuries.

“I cannot stop better than here, playing for your country, playing on [Court Philippe] Chatrier, such a great crowd, and I just tried my best.”

Throughout a distinguished career, Kerber rarely gave less. A late developer in tennis terms, the German offered a first hint of things to come in 2011, when she broke a sequence of four straight first-round defeats at grand slam level with a run to the US Open semi-finals while ranked 92 in the world. Kerber reached the same stage at Wimbledon the following year, hard on the heels of a last-eight finish at the French Open. But although she became a fixture in the top 10, three relatively lean seasons at the majors followed, prompting her to re-evaluate her game and career. Kerber cleaned up her diet, worked hard to improve her second serve – always the most vulnerable aspect of her game, given that she is a natural right-hander – and sought the counsel of her celebrated compatriot Steffi Graf.

At the start of 2016, it all came together in the most improbable fashion at the Australian Open, where Kerber, now 28, survived a match point in the opening round against Misaki Doi of Japan and went on to win her first grand slam title the hard way, defeating Serena Williams in the final. 

The belief she took from that win would underpin a historic season. A run to the Wimbledon final, where Williams exacted revenge for her defeat in Melbourne, was followed by an Olympic silver medal in Rio de Janeiro, where Kerber was upset in the final by the unseeded Monica Puig. More was to come at the US Open, where the German recovered from a break down in the final set against Karolina Pliskova to win the title and cement her rise to world No 1, the oldest woman ever to claim that distinction for the first time. A season that brought 63 victories would end with another career milestone at the WTA Finals in Singapore, where she finished runner-up to Dominika Cibulková.

It was a tough act to follow, but Kerber came close in 2018, reaching the last four in Melbourne, the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, and finally winning Wimbledon, the title she had coveted since childhood. At 30 years old, it was her crowning achievement.

“Winning here, it’s forever,” said Kerber. “Nobody can take the title away from me now.”

Five years later, however, her priorities were forever altered by the birth of her daughter, Liana. Kerber’s appetite for the sport remained intact, but she no longer saw herself simply as a tennis player; sport had become secondary.

“I still love tennis, but first and foremost I’m a mother with my whole heart, and it’s a real joy,” said Kerber. “There’s a little person in my life that is far more important than tennis.”

That being the case, what better place to finish than at the Olympics, where her performances – a quarter-final at London 2012, a final in Rio de Janeiro four years later, and now another last-eight appearance in Paris – have reflected the different phases of her career. Kerber acknowledged that pattern in her retirement announcement, which stands as a fitting valedictory statement.

“I will never forget Paris 2024, because it will be my last professional tournament as a tennis player,” wrote Kerber. “And whereas this might actually be the right decision, it will never feel that way. Simply because I love the sport with all my heart, and I’m thankful for the memories and opportunities it has given me.

“The Olympics I’ve participated in so far have been more than just competitions, as they represent different chapters of my life as a tennis player: the climb, the peak… and now the finish line.”

To the very last, Kerber never stopped sprinting for that line.

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It barely mattered that Djokovic is without a title this season and underwent knee surgery less than two months ago, or that the injury-plagued Nadal came into the contest with only a dozen matches under his belt this year. This was appointment viewing, and the clamour to witness the legendary duo’s second-round meeting at the Paris Olympics – and possibly their last meeting anywhere – extended even to the sizeable press area on Court Philippe Chatrier, which became so packed that scores of queuing journalists were turned away.

But for all the hallmarks of an epic occasion, Nadal had counselled caution beforehand, stressing that the old certainties are no longer what they once were, and his warning proved well founded. The 38-year-old Spaniard has moved heaven and earth to be competitive at these Olympics, skipping Wimbledon to continue his preparations on clay, and when he reached his first final in two years in Bastad just over a week ago, showing flashes of his former self, he appeared to be on the verge of a meaningful return to form. Nadal, however, was circumspect, pointing to his difficulty in maintaining his level and intensity from first ball to last, and expressing dissatisfaction with his backhand. Such pronouncements rarely owe anything to kidology where Nadal is concerned, and clearly Djokovic was listening. 

Rarely has Nadal been so thoroughly outclassed on a clay court. Djokovic came in with a clear game plan and implemented it to near-perfection. A sequence of beautifully executed drop shots and abrupt injections of pace made plain his intentions from the outset, the Serbian top seed testing Nadal’s recovery from a recent thigh injury, but also asking bigger questions. How confident was Nadal in his body? Was he prepared to suffer and, if so, how much? Did he truly believe? 

In varying degrees, Nadal was found wanting on all fronts. His movement was sprightly, but not sprightly enough to cope with Djokovic’s power and touch. He struggled to summon the explosive athleticism of old, too often caught on his heels as the Serb feasted on his serve and drilled backhands into places where Nadal did not want to be. Unable to exert sustained pressure, Nadal became a bystander at his own execution, powerless to intervene as Djokovic pocketed 10 of the first 11 games. A rout appeared inevitable until a spirited late fightback added a veneer of respectability to the scoreline, but Djokovic was good value for his 6-1, 6-4 victory.

“It’s simple, one player was much better than the other,” said Nadal. “For an hour, it was hard to digest what was happening, with physical exhaustion and the mental side. There was suffering, because the game was blatantly going badly for me. He was stronger in every aspect, and he was not giving me anything.

“I wasn’t able to play at the level I needed to create problems for him. I didn’t have the quality of shot I needed, and I also don’t have the same legs I had 15 years ago. Without ball quality and the legs of 15 years ago, you are not going to create problems for the best in history. The analysis is easy: I have not been at my level; he has, and the result was costly.”

At a venue where Nadal has won 14 of his 22 majors, etching his legend so deeply in the terre battue that a steel statue stands in his honour within a stone’s throw of Court Philippe Chatrier, it was the most sobering of afternoons. Only as humiliation beckoned did he rouse himself, rallying from 6-1, 4-0 down to level the second set at four games apiece. Even that sequence began with a donation from Djokovic, who screwed a forehand wide to gift Nadal his first break point of the afternoon, then hit a jittery double fault. To his credit, Nadal took full advantage, and when he punctuated his comeback by winning the point of the afternoon, rising to meet a bounce smash from Djokovic with an overhead of his own, then rolling a forehand pass for a winner, anything seemed possible.

As Nadal raised a fist in triumph and the crowd, fiercely loyal to him throughout, began chanting his name more loudly than ever, Djokovic kept a cool head. Pushing for another break, he patiently maintained pressure on Nadal’s serve, shrugging off the disappointment of missing three break points to convert a fourth with an immaculate drop shot. Two aces in the final game – where Nadal, to his evident dismay, returned an inviting second serve long at 30-30 – sealed victory for Djokovic as well a measure of revenge for his semi-final defeat to Nadal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

“[I’m] very relieved, because everything looked like going my way [at] 6-1 4-0,” said Djokovic, who now leads his career-defining rivalry with Nadal by 31 wins to 29. “I got maybe a little bit too comfortable there at 4-1, played a pretty sloppy service game, and you can’t give any chances to Nadal, because he’s going to use them, he’s going to come back, especially on this court. With the crowd getting involved, obviously it was very tough. 

“Crucial game at 4-4, last game with the old balls, I just tried to break his serve and serve against the wind with new balls. I did well last couple of serves but, wow, it was a very, very close encounter, especially in the second. I’m very pleased with the way I played.”

While Djokovic will continue his pursuit of an Olympic gold medal, the only significant omission from his trophy collection, Nadal can reflect on what has already been a memorable campaign in Paris. His prominent role in the opening ceremony, where he received the Olympic torch from Zinedine Zidane and carried it down the Seine alongside Serena Williams, will linger long in the memory, while his tenacious opening-round win over Hungary’s Márton Fucsovics suggested he still has much to give, not least alongside Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s doubles. 

Whether any of that will be enough to encourage him to continue playing beyond this year remains to be seen. Before losing to Alexander Zverev in the opening round of this year’s French Open, he had lost only three times in 115 matches at Roland Garros; now he has been beaten twice in two months. But with so much glory behind him – including two Olympic gold medals, the first won in Beijing in 2008, the second in doubles with Marc López in Rio de Janeiro eight years later – Nadal insists he is at peace with whatever the future holds. 

“I have been suffering a lot of injuries the last two years,” he said. “So if I feel that I am not competitive enough to keep going, or physically I’m not ready to keep going, I will stop and I will let you know. But I don’t think every day about if I am retiring or not.

“If that’s the last match here, I’ll be in peace. I did my best and I can’t complain.”

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Djokovic, three of whose 24 grand slam titles have come on the Parisian clay, will begin his quest to make good the only significant omission from his trophy cabinet against Australia’s Matthew Ebden. It will be the 37-year-old’s fifth Olympic campaign, with his best return so far the bronze medal he won in Beijing in 2008, where he was beaten in the semi-finals by Nadal. While Nadal would go on to win a gold medal against Chile’s Fernando González – and added a second four years later in Rio de Janeiro, where he partnered Marc López, now a member of his coaching team, to the men’s doubles title – Djokovic’s Olympic odyssey has been a more painful one. 

At the 2012 Games in London, where he was handed the honour of bearing Serbia’s flag, Djokovic was beaten by Andy Murray in the last four and then denied bronze by Juan Martín del Potro, who also consigned him to a tearful first-round exit in Rio in 2016. Victory seemed all but assured in 2020, when Djokovic arrived in Tokyo with a golden grand slam in his sights after winning the first three majors of the year. Instead, he was stunned by Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals, then suffered a meltdown against Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta in the bronze medal match, hurling his racket into the stands – fortunately empty due to the global pandemic – and obliterating a frame against the net post as he slipped to a three-set defeat.

Small wonder, then, that Djokovic has made no secret of prioritising the Olympics this season. His most recent visit to Roland Garros ended unhappily after he suffered a torn meniscus in his last-16 win over Francisco Cerúndolo and was forced to withdraw from the tournament. He subsequently underwent knee surgery and, despite an improbable run to the Wimbledon final, where he was beaten in straight sets by Carlos Alcaraz, a question mark remains over his fitness. His movement was clearly below par against Alcaraz, and his intensive rehabilitation efforts will not have been helped by the switch back from grass to clay, challenges he acknowledged after the final. 

“In order to really have a chance to beat these guys in a grand slam, latter stages, or Olympics, I’m going to have to play much better than I did today and feel much better than I did today,” said Djokovic. “I’m going to work on it. 

“Hopefully [I] have a chance to fight for a medal for my country. On a completely different surface, obviously, going back to the place where I got injured some weeks ago. Let’s see.  Let’s see how physically and mentally I’m going to feel. Hopefully I can find the right tennis, because I’m going to need all I have and more to go to the final of the Olympic Games.”

If the Serbian world No 2 is to fulfil that dream, however, he may have to go through Nadal, who reached his first final in two years last week on the clay courts of Bastad. The Spaniard faces a potentially tricky opening-round assignment Márton Fucsovics of Hungary, ranked 83 in the world and widely regarded as one of the fittest players on tour. Mercifully, Nadal looked strong in practice on Friday, warming up alongside Alcaraz, his doubles partner, with his right thigh bandaged after suffering a midweek fitness scare that had his coach, Carlos Moya, warning that the 22-time grand slam winner’s singles campaign could be in doubt. Djokovic, however, will be among the many hoping his old rival makes the start line.

“Expectations for the Olympics are high, and I can’t and don’t want to change that,” said Djokovic. “It creates a personal motivation for me to approach it in the best possible way for the best possible result.

“In the last four, five days, I feel more prepared for the Olympics than I was for Wimbledon. I’m looking forward to the start of the tournament.

“It would be exciting to play against Nadal in the second round.”

Should that showdown materialise, it would be the 60th meeting between the pair. Djokovic currently has 30 wins to Nadal’s 29, although the Spaniard has prevailed in eight of their 10 matches at Roland Garros, the most recent of which came two years ago, when Nadal came through a four-set quarterfinal classic.

The bottom half of the draw is propped up by Alcaraz, who will be competing at the Games for the first time. The 21-year-old, who opens on Saturday against Hady Habib of Lebanon, is projected to meet reigning Olympic champion Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals, in what would be a rematch of last month’s French Open final, won by the Spaniard in five sets. Alcaraz is relishing the prospect of competing alongside Nadal. 

“There’s no better way to make your Games debut than by forming a doubles partnership with Rafa,” said Alcaraz. “We’ll do our best, with the greatest desire, with a lot of enthusiasm while making people enjoy it.”

Nadal and Alcaraz will open their campaign against Andrés Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina on Saturday.

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Murry, who all but declared his intentions when he spoke to reporters at the British team base on the outskirts of north-west Paris on Wednesday, formally announced his decision in a statement on Thursday morning, shortly before the draw was made.

“I’ve taken the decision to withdraw from the singles to concentrate on the doubles with Dan,” said Murray. “Our practice has been great and we’re playing well together. Really looking forward to getting started and representing GB one more time.”

The Olympics will be the second major singles competition Murray has missed in less than a month. After undergoing surgery to have a spinal cyst removed on 22 June, the 37-year-old, a double Olympic gold medallist in singles, was also forced to abandon plans for a final singles appearance at Wimbledon, instead limiting his involvement to the men’s doubles, in which he made an emotional farewell to the tournament alongside his older brother, Jamie. 

Now history is set to repeat itself, with Murray fearful that competing in two events would be too great a workload so soon after his operation.

“Obviously, Dan and I have made the commitment to each other that this was what we were going to prioritise,” Murray said on Wednesday. “I think Dan is still going to play singles.

“Since we’ve been here, we’ve been practising and playing doubles sets together. That gives the team and us the best opportunity to win a medal, realistically. 

“My back is still not perfect, and the potential of playing two matches in the day is maybe not the best.”

Injury setbacks have been all too frequent over the final months of Murray’s career. He ruptured ankle ligaments in Miami in late March, and although he returned to competition less than eight weeks later, in time to contest the final weeks of the clay-court season, he required treatment on his back following the French Open. While it is not the first time the 37-year-old has suffered back problems after competing on the surface, the subsequent transition to grass revealed deeper issues. 

After defeating Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in his opener at Queen’s Club, Murray was forced to abandon his last-16 meeting with Jordan Thompson while trailing 4-1 in the first set. That would prove to be the final singles match of his career. 

Murray, however, has been eager to accentuate the positives, particularly after he was originally told by doctors that he would not be able to play at either Wimbledon or the Olympics. 

“After what happened in Miami with my ankle, and then what’s happened with my back, it is extremely frustrating,” said Murray. “But I also was told when I had the scan on my back after Queen’s that I wouldn’t play at Wimbledon and I wouldn’t play at the Olympics either. I got the opportunity to play at Wimbledon and physically, judging by how we’ve been doing in our practices, [I’m] more than capable of competing and doing very well in the doubles. In some ways, you could say it was lucky.”

Murray won the first of his gold medals at the London 2012 Olympics, defeating Roger Federer just four weeks losing the Wimbledon final to the Swiss. That victory proved the catalyst for the first of Murray’s three grand slam titles, which came at the following month’s US Open. By the time the Scot successfully defended his Olympic title in Rio de Janeiro four years later, he was also a two-time Wimbledon champion.

“Every time I have come to the Olympics it feels totally different,” said Murray. “I personally love it. For me, it has been an amazing experience. I love being around athletes, being part of the team, representing my country. For me, it has been right up there.”

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It was a performance that made you wonder how Zverev, at the age of 24, has not already annexed more of the game’s major prizes. The German’s 6-3, 6-1 victory marked his most significant moment since 2018, when he achieved the rare feat of beating Roger Federer and Djokovic on consecutive days to win the ATP World Tour finals. 

Zverev has been knocking on the door ever more insistently since then, gradually shaking off his reputation as a player who struggled to translate his impressive form in Masters 1000 events into success at the majors. He has reached the semi-finals or better at three of the four grand slams, but winning the Olympics represents his finest achievement to date, eclipsing his run to last year’s US Open final, where he was beaten by Dominic Thiem after leading by two sets to love.

“This is the biggest tournament you can win, in any sport,” said Zverev after following in the the footsteps of compatriot Steffi Graf, the 1988 gold medallist. “I’ve won the World Tour finals but a gold medal at the Olympics, the value is incredible because you’re not only playing for yourself, you’re playing for your country. It’s an incredible feeling. There is nothing better than this.”

It was an evening of frustration for Khanchanov, who was broken in the third game and remained on the back foot for the rest of the match. The 12th-seeded Russian has enjoyed a fine summer, reaching a clay-court semi-final in Lyon and the last eight at Wimbledon, but here he was outclassed in every department. Struggling to defend his own serve, he was equally unable to make an impression against the German’s delivery, winning less than a quarter of his return points. His only break point, which came in the sixth game, was quickly snuffed out by a big first serve into the body. Repeatedly overpowered from the baseline, Khachanov was forced outside his comfort zone, the unremitting excellence of Zverev’s play drawing errors that only compounded the Russian’s misery.

“From beginning to the end, he played an unbelievable match,” said Khachanov, whose frustration boiled over afterwards as he smashed a racket at courtside.

Such exasperation was understandable. Rarely can Zverev have played more flawlessly. The forehand is often a barometer of how well the German’s’s game is working, and here it was immaculate. Time and again Zverev pulled Khachanov beyond the doubles alley, his cross-court shots loaded with power and topspin to which the Russian had no answer. With his weaker wing firing, the quality of Zverev’s shot-making off the backhand was frequently astonishing, the German drilling winners almost at will.

Amid the relentless barrage of 140mph serves and rifled groundstrokes there was variety, too – sliding defensive backhands, drop shots, topspin lobs. With his confidence high and his game in fine fettle, all the indications are that Zverev will be a force to be reckoned with at the US Open. He was in no mood to entertain such talk, however, preferring instead to soak in the culmination of an unforgettable week.

“I don’t want to talk about the next grand slam right now because I just won the Olympic Games,” said Zverev. “I want to enjoy this one for two minutes.”

Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic failed in her bid to become the first woman to win singles and doubles gold at the same Olympics since Serena Williams at London 2012. Bencic and her partner Viktorija Golubic were beaten 7-5, 6-1 by the top seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, who become the first ever Czech gold medal winners in tennis.

“I’m just really proud about how we did this week, and how we supported each other, even in the tough moments,” said Krejcikova. “We’re really happy and really grateful that we could be here. We did such a great job during these 10 days and we have this beautiful gold medal. It’s pretty much a dream come true.”

It fell to Bencic to sum up the spirit of the tennis tournament at these Games. “It’s not just about the medals or the titles, it’s about the memories you create that will last forever,” she said. “To share this with Viki is unbelievable. The whole week I never felt like I was in a normal tournament or playing alone. She was alongside me the entire way. I always tell her we won this gold medal together as well. When we will be 80 years old and have a coffee, we will talk about these moments. And I cannot wait for that.”

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Bencic, who becomes the first Swiss woman to win a gold medal for tennis, could hardly have done more to earn her place in the record books. For the fourth round in succession, Bencic was taken the distance, prevailing in three sets just as she had done against French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia and, in the semi-finals, Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina. It was a performance of courage, stamina and resolve from the Swiss sixth seed, who successfully negotiated a contest of labyrinthine twists and turns to subdue Vondrousova, the woman she partnered to the women’s doubles title at Roland Garros three years ago, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.

“I think maybe the success I had very early made people think now it has to go very easy. It’s not like that,” said Bencic. “Everyone has their own time. Some people do it earlier, some people later, some people never, some people always. You never know, every career has its own story but the most important is to be happy with yourself.

“You always have to overcome difficulties. I don’t know any athlete who has only ups and no downs. Sometimes I found it a bit unfair that people thought I was out of the game, I was gone. I always did my best, I always worked hard and in the end, that was what I could rely on. I knew that I always gave my best and that was enough for me.”

While Bencic now has her sights set on another gold medal alongside Viktorija Golubic, whom she will partner in Sunday’s women’s doubles final against the top-seeded Czech pairing of Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, Vondrousova can reflect with satisfaction on a week that has brought unexpected rewards.

What a revelation the Czech has been in Tokyo, beating the second seed and home favourite Naomi Osaka in round three before powering past world No 6 Elina Svitolina in the semi-finals to record her best run since reaching the French Open final two years ago. Having arrived in Tokyo as the subject of scarcely concealed disdain from some of her compatriots after using a protected ranking to make the Czech team, edging out world No 23 Karolina Muchova, Vondrousova leaves with a silver medal and a point proved.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” said the 42nd-ranked Vondrousova. “Today I was feeling a bit tired, but I think we played an amazing match. To have the medal is so good, I’m just too happy, I’m not going to be sad.”

In a match of countless twists and turns, the early momentum was with Bencic. Alive to the danger of Vondrousova’s signature drop shots, the Swiss was sharp from the outset, pouncing on anything remotely short and pounding back her opponent’s southpaw serve to earn an early break. But Bencic failed to consolidate the advantage, some loose play handing Vondrousova a love break, and when she subsequently gifted her opponent a second service game with a double fault, she cut a frustrated figure.

Adversity has brought out the best in Bencic at these Olympics, however, and some aggressive play off the ground reaped immediate dividends as she broke back at the first time of asking. It set the tone for a nip-and-tuck conclusion to the set. The decisive breakthrough came in the twelfth game, Bencic forcing the play from the baseline and harrying her opponent into errors to claim the set.

That was the cue for a tactical shift from Vondrousova. Abandoning her go-to strategy of using sliced backhands, angles and drop shots to vary the play, the Czech moved inside the baseline to clump the ball with unbridled power. Fourteen winners and 39 minutes later, the match was level.

Vondrousova carried her momentum into the decider, quickly moving a break ahead. But Bencic’s team had been imploring her to keep going for her shots, and now she paid heed, once again seeking to dictate from the back. After a lengthy game on serve, the Czech paid the price for a second successive drop shot as Bencic pounced to drill home a forehand winner. Another exchange of breaks followed, but it was Bencic who proved the steadier down the home straight, breaking to love in the eighth game before serving out for the title.

“History,” declared Federer on social media. And so it was, a piece of Swiss tennis history that Bencic was quick to dedicate to the absent Federer, with whom she had planned to play mixed doubles before a setback with his knee forced his withdrawal from the Olympics.

“Roger wrote to me today,” said Bencic. “He said this is the perfect day to reach my dreams. I was really happy about that, and he was absolutely right. He’s incredible in that way. He really supports all the Swiss players – it’s incredible the support I receive from Roger, and this win is for him.”

Further history was made in the bronze medal match, where Elina Svitolina secured a first podium finish for Ukraine in tennis with a 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 victory over Rybakina. Svitolina, the fourth seed, who was extended to a decider in each of her first three matches in Tokyo, once again did things the hard way, recovering from 4-1 down in the final set to claim the biggest win of her career.

“Coming here, for sure my goal was to win a gold medal, and it was extremely tough to lose in the semi-finals and then try to regroup and come again against a top player who is playing really good,” said Svitolina. “To win such a big battle for the bronze medal definitely means the world to me. Everyone in Ukraine is watching – we don’t win so many medals, you know – so for sure, it’s very special for me and for Ukraine.”

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