It took 16 years, two tiebreaks and one of the finest performances of his career, against a player who routed him in the Wimbledon final barely three weeks ago, but Novak Djokovic did it all.
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.”