Novak Djokovic defeated Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday to win his first Olympic title and become only the fifth player to complete a career Golden Slam.
The 37-year-old Serb, who was competing in his seventh Olympics, won an exciting final at Roland Garros 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2) to add Olympic gold to his 24 Grand Slam victories.
With his victory, he joined Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, Steffi Graf, and Serena Williams as the only players to win all four Grand Slam tournaments plus the Olympic singles gold medal.
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He also became the oldest singles champion since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988, shattering Alcaraz’s hopes of adding gold to the French Open and Wimbledon trophies he won earlier this summer.
An emotional Djokovic celebrated by waving the Serbian flag on the court before climbing into the players’ box to embrace his wife and kids.
Djokovic created a break point in the second game of the opening, followed by three more in the fourth, all of which the Spaniard saved.
Then it was the Serb’s turn to show off his legendary resilience, surviving three break points in the fifth game and another five in a protracted ninth game.
In a thrilling match, Alcaraz saved a set point in the 12th game, but his veteran opponent controlled the tiebreak to win the opening after 93 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The second set was nonstop action, with brilliant shot-making and spirited defence, culminating with Alcaraz fighting off the final’s 14th break point in the third game.
Again, the set was decided by a tie-break, and with history on the line, Djokovic swept through to win after two hours and fifty minutes.
On Saturday, Lorenzo Musetti defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime in three sets to win the bronze medal, Italy’s first in men’s tennis in 100 years.
Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider will face the Italian combination of Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in the women’s doubles later Sunday, with the Russians hoping to win their first gold medal of the Games.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian athletes are competing in the Olympics as neutrals.
If Andreeva and Shnaider win gold, their accomplishment will be overlooked in the medals table, and the Russian flag and national song would be barred from the podium ceremony.
Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo, the eighth seeds from Spain, won the bronze medal match 6-2, 6-2 over Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic.