Djokovic beats Alcaraz to become Olympic tennis champion in Paris 2024

ParisSerbian Novak Djokovic won the Olympic tennis gold medal for the first time in his career, beating Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday in an electrifying final at Roland Garros.

At 37 years old and with a record of 24 Grand Slam titles, Djokovic won in two sets of 7-6 (7/3) and 7-6 (7/2) after almost two decades of trying to win the only major title missing from his extensive list of achievements, the Olympic gold medal.

After almost three hours of intense match played at the highest level, the Serbian let his emotions flow to celebrate his long-awaited achievement. Opposite him, Alcaraz cried from the bitterness of the defeat, despite giving Spain a silver medal.

“It was an incredible battle (…) I’m in shock,” said Djokovic, a few minutes after closing out the duel.

Before, and unable to stop crying, Alcaraz said: “It’s complicated, we fought,” but it is “very hard” to lose in this way.

The Philippe Chatrier was a packed venue in the sunshine for the grand final. Djokovic, world number two and the most successful Grand Slam winner with 24 titles, faced the ATP number three and winner of four Grand Slams at the age of 21, including Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year.

Each game lived up to expectations, with both hitting their best shots and saving break opportunities in the first set until 4-4.

Impossible balls from Djokovic, answers that are harder to explain from his young rival and eternal games.

In the first tie-break, Djokovic put all his experience to work for a 7-6 that brought him closer to gold.

Alcaraz felt the impact of losing the first set and showed some hesitation at the start of the second set. ‘Nole’, who underwent surgery on his right knee in June, confirmed that in Paris he was ready to compete on equal terms against the Spaniard and not like in the Wimbledon final, where he was beaten by the man from Murcia.

However, the Spaniard put in some grit and tennis to go 6-5 up, but the Serbian had other plans and held serve to once again define the set in a tiebreak and win the match.

Paris 2024 will go down in history as the competition in which Djokovic turned his luck around at the Olympic Games and took home the gold.