Novak Djokovic finally won gold for himself and Serbia at the 2024 Olympic Games, defeating Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the men’s singles final. Playing on the familiar clay courts of Roland Garros, Djokovic is the oldest player to reach the final of an Olympic tennis tournament and is now also the oldest male winner.
He needed two tiebreakers to win, but beat Alcaraz in straight sets, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2). The loss meant Alcaraz, who was the youngest male finalist in an Olympic tennis tournament, ended his first Summer Olympics appearance with a silver medal.
The Serbian Djokovic has a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles to his name, but his best Olympic result to date was a bronze medal in 2008. His other Olympic appearances have been disappointing and many thought it would be difficult for him to win gold this year, given the rise of younger players and Djokovic’s own struggles this season.
But he looked a world away on Sunday from the injury-plagued 37-year-old who missed out on a Grand Slam title this year. Facing Alcaraz, who beat him in a Grand Slam final just before the Olympics began, he looked exactly like the No. 1-ranked player in the world.
Djokovic took advantage of Alcaraz’s aggressive play early on, using his signature powerful shots from tricky angles, but Alcaraz fended off Djokovic’s quick break attempts to hold the match until the start of the match. A few games later, Djokovic had a chance for a triple break, but Alcaraz held him off.
The two players battled it out like this for much of the first set, with Djokovic repeatedly hitting shots that Alcaraz thought were just out of reach, only for Alcaraz to repeatedly hit and put the ball back in play, but neither player was able to settle for a break. After 13 attempts and none, the match went into a first-set tiebreak, which Djokovic won.
The second set played out much like the first, with both players trying to break but refusing to break. Alcaraz was able to answer Djokovic’s shots multiple times, but the returns were not going in and he was forced to make multiple errors. They eventually went to a tiebreak again, with Djokovic winning a point on Alcaraz’s first serve to take the lead.
Djokovic and Alcaraz advanced to the final by defeating unlikely opponents in the semifinals, Lorenzo Musetti of Italy and Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, respectively. That set up a bronze medal match between Musetti and Italy, who won it on Saturday by beating Auger-Aliassime in three sets, leaving only Djokovic’s match on Sunday undecided.
Djokovic and Alcaraz faced some of the best players on their way to the semifinals, but some big names were eliminated: Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Norway’s Kasper Ruud, two big names ranked in the top six, lost in the quarterfinals to Musetti and Auger-Aliassime.
Alcaraz defeated American Tommy Paul in straight sets in the quarterfinals, ending the United States’ medal hopes. Djokovic also beat his quarterfinal opponent, No. 8 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, in straight sets. He also faced Rafael Nadal in the second round, beating the Spaniard in straight sets with both players struggling with injuries.
Coming into Sunday’s final, Alcaraz and Djokovic had split their six career meetings, including two on clay. While the 37-year-old Djokovic is unlikely to return to Olympic competition in four years, Alcaraz is still just 21 and has plenty of time to add to his medal tally.
Full results from the men’s singles medal matches are as follows:
Gold Medal Match: No.1 Novak Djokovic (SRB) def. No.2 Carlos Alcaraz (ESP), 7-6(3), 7-6(2)
Bronze Medal Match: No.11 Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) def. No.13 Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN)
