Paris
\nFor all his Grand Slam titles and time spent at No. 1, Novak Djokovic longed for an Olympic gold medal for Serbia, the last significant accolade missing from his illustrious career.
\nAt age 37, he finally achieved this on Sunday, defeating Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) in a thrilling men\u2019s tennis singles final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
\nDjokovic, who has competed in every Summer Olympics since 2008, went viral on social media for his seemingly casual approach\u2014both stylistically and attitude-wise\u2014en route to his silver medal in the air pistol team event at the 2024 Games.
\n\u201cWhen I take everything into consideration, this probably is the biggest sporting success I ever had in my career,\u201d said Djokovic, who didn\u2019t drop a set in Paris and is the oldest man to win the Summer Games tennis title since 1908.
\n\u201cThis kind of supersedes everything that I imagined, that I hoped that I could experience, that I could feel.\u201d
\nWith margins so thin that any mistake could tilt the match, Djokovic was at his best when the stakes were highest, dominating both tiebreakers against Alcaraz.
\n\u201cIn the close moments, in the difficult situations, in the tiebreaks, he played an impressive game,\u201d said silver medalist Alcaraz.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s why I saw that he\u2019s hungry for the gold medal. He was going to go for it.\u201d
\nDjokovic already owns a men\u2019s-record 24 Grand Slam trophies and the most weeks at No. 1 by any man or woman.
\nHe also owned an Olympic bronze medal from 2008 but made it clear that gold was his priority.
\n\u201cI was ready,\u201d Djokovic said of his triumph over Paris bronze medalist Lorenzo Musetti and other tough competitors like Rafael Nadal.
\nThe final, lasting 2 hours and 50 minutes, featured stunning ball-striking, deft drop shots, and tremendous defensive play.
\nBoth players saved multiple break points, and the atmosphere was electric with fans chanting for both athletes.
\n\u201cThe belief and the conviction that I can make it is stronger than my doubts,\u201d Djokovic said after his victory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paris For all his Grand Slam titles and time spent at No. 1, Novak Djokovic longed for an Olympic gold medal for Serbia, the last significant accolade missing from his illustrious career. At age 37, he finally achieved this on Sunday, defeating Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) in a thrilling men\u2019s tennis singles final […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-423125","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n