Novak Djokovic completes tennis with Olympic gold

With a staggering 24 Grand Slam titles, 7 ATP Final titles, 40 Masters 1000 titles, and 428 weeks spent at world number 1, Novak Djokovic is widely considered the most decorated male tennis player of all time.

However, prior to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, there was one notable omission from his remarkable career, with Olympic gold evading him on 4 separate occasions. At last, his search for the winning medal would come to an end earlier this month in the Olympic final. Djokovic defeated Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz on Court Philippe-Chatrier, ensuring he will finish his career as the winner of practically all there is to win in professional tennis.

In his first Olympic Games, Djokovic was defeated in the semi-finals, losing in 3 sets to the eventual winner, Rafael Nadal. And whilst victory in the bronze medal match over American, James Blake, was a proud moment for the then 21-year-old, it was not the gold medal he wanted to deliver for his country.

In securing gold, the 24-time Grand Slam champion did not drop a set during his 6 matches

The next 3 Olympic Games proved even more disappointing, with Djokovic’s success on tour not translating into medals. In 2012 on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, he was defeated again in the semi-finals by the tournament winner, this time Andy Murray, who went on to beat Roger Federer. Preventing him from another bronze in the 3rd place play-off was Juan del Porto of Argentina. And in 2016, using his protected ranking, Del Porto again caused Novak further Olympic heartbreak, defeating him in 2 tiebreaks.

At the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Djokovic again finished in 4th place, losing to Alexander Zverev before defeat in the 3rd place play-off to Pablo Carreño Busta of Spain.

In what is likely to be his last Olympic Games, Djokovic was able to secure gold, describing the long-awaited accolade after the match as the “biggest achievement in my career”.

In securing gold, the 24-time Grand Slam champion did not drop a set during his 6 matches. His first match, a routine win over Matthew Ebden, led him to the highly anticipated match-up with old rival Rafael Nadal. But the Spaniard had little answer to the problems Djokovic created for him, going down 6-1, 6-4 after a mini-revival in the 2nd set. Another routine victory followed for Djokovic in the 3rd round over Germany’s Dominik Koepfer, before victory over 8th seed, Stefanos Tsitsipas, in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, the Serbian eased any fears following an injury scare in the previous round, seeing off in form Lorenzo Musetti, 6-4, 6-2.

To secure Olympic victory, he was then faced with the challenge of Carlos Alcaraz, the man who had eased past him just a month earlier during the Wimbledon final. On this occasion, however, both players showed up and produced a thrilling spectacle, lasting 2 hours and 52 minutes. With no breaks of serve throughout the match, it was during the tiebreaks that Djokovic appeared a level above, with Alcaraz limited to just 5 points across both tiebreaks.

Ahead of the US Open, Djokovic will be aiming to win his 25th Grand Slam. With his young family now ever-present at his big matches, there is further motivation for him to win in front of his nine and six-year-old children, who are starting to realise quite how special their father is.