Serbia's Novak Djokovic wins his first Olympic gold medal Sunday after beating Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in men's tennis singles final.
ADVERTISEMENTNovak Djokovic won his first Olympic gold medal by beating Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) in an enthralling men’s tennis singles final Sunday, giving the 37-year-old from Serbia the last significant accomplishment missing from his glittering resume.
Djokovic's career already featured a men's-record 24 Grand Slam titles and the most weeks spent at No. 1 in the rankings by any man or woman. It also already contained a Summer Olympics bronze medal from 2008 — but he has made clear that simply was not sufficient.
The final in Paris, which lasted 2 hours, 50 minutes, was a rematch of the Wimbledon title match three weeks ago that Alcaraz, 21, won to follow up his French Open title in June.
Alcaraz also defeated Djokovic in last year’s final at the All England Club, but Djokovic won when they met in the semi-finals of the 2023 French Open.
Sunday’s contest was an enthralling matchup. Most remarkable, was how cleanly both men played, despite the talent of the opposition and pressure of the occasion. Unforced errors were rare.
The only shame, perhaps, for the fans — and, naturally, the loser — was that the Olympics uses a best-of-three-set format, instead of the best-of-five at Grand Slam tournaments. Make no mistake, this encounter between the No. 1-seeded Djokovic and No. 2-seeded Alcaraz was worthy of a major final, and no one fortunate enough to hold a ticket could complain about not getting their money’s worth.
Those in the stands became part of the show, repeatedly breaking out into choruses of “No-le! No-le!” or “Car-los! Car-los!” that often overlapped, creating an operatic fugue. In the second set, as Alcaraz attempted to mount a comeback, his supporters began chanting, “Si, se puede!” (essentially, “Yes, you can!”) while shaking their red-and-yellow flags.
Both men played to the crowd. When Alcaraz raced to reach one drop shot and deposit it over the net for a winner, he basked in the raucous reaction by pointing his right index finger to his ear. When Djokovic laced a cross-court forehand winner on the run to cap a 10-shot point to lead 3-2 in the second tiebreaker, he waved both arms overhead to encourage folks who already were on their feet, screaming.
After winning, Djokovic turned toward his team in the stands — sitting in front of his wife and their two children — and dropped his racket as he knelt on the clay. As emotional as ever, he cried and covered his face, then rose and grabbed a red-white-and-blue Serbian flag. After hugs in the stands, Djokovic waved that flag. Alcaraz wept afterward, too.