The Olympics final of the men’s singles event was a treat to the eyes of every single tennis fan as two superstar players came together to put up a great show at Roland Garros. There wasn’t much of a difference between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz throughout the match as both players could not break each other’s serve except in tiebreaks.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion’s reaction to the victory said it all and how much this meant to him. The tennis legend broke into tears and also kneeled down on the ground.
While kneeling his hands could be seen shivering, displaying the burst of emotions inside him to have finally added the only achievement left, to his trophy cabinet. This is something many fans have never seen before from the Serb.
Novak Djokovic was shaking after winning the gold medal match against Carlos Alcaraz at the Olympics.
He wanted this so badly.
Chills.
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 4, 2024
But it wasn’t only Djokovic who went viral with his reaction. Alcaraz, too, after the match, had a lot to express and that won hearts even amongst many fans of the Serb as well.
The 21-year-old was left heartbroken as he failed to win a gold medal for Spain in his debut Olympics tournament. He cried inconsolably for a few minutes.
But fans believe that Alcaraz will get another opportunity to win gold in the Olympics someday as they sympathised with him for having an understandable reaction.
Carlitos
There will be other opportunities young king pic.twitter.com/NBfsdTlctb
— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) August 4, 2024
But Alcaraz was sporting enough to laud Djokovic and blamed his inability to not step up on big moments for his loss.
Carlos Alcaraz after losing to Djokovic in the Olympic gold medal match
“It’s painful to lose the way I lost this match. I had my chances to probably be up in the match. I couldn’t take it. Novak was playing great. He deserves this. In the tough moments he increased his level.… pic.twitter.com/CnXzZwlJRe
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 4, 2024
Though the game ended in Djokovic’s favor, not even at one point was the game one-sided and the two stars kept everyone hooked to their seats till the last point. With this victory, Djokovic realised his dream of achieving the career Golden Slam and finally winning a title for his country.
It was indeed a special moment for the Serb who had to wait for around 16 years and 4 Olympics editions to finally clinch a gold medal and his second Olympic medal in the men’s singles category. His last medal came in the year 2008, when he played his first-ever Olympics in Beijing and won a bronze medal.
After the win, Djokovic was quoted as saying:
“I don’t know what to say. I’m still in shock. I put my heart, soul, body, family, everything on the line to win the Olympic Gold at the age of 37. The pride to play for Serbia. Carlos and Rafa love to play for Spain, Andy for Britain, Roger for Switzerland. You just see the reactions when they win. It’s special. It’s different.
Djokovic on Eurosport.
“Incredible battle, fight. I honestly when the last shot went past him it was the only moment I thought I could win the match. He keeps on coming back and asking me to play my best tennis. It was fair to finish both sets in tiebreak.
I don’t know what to… pic.twitter.com/lswBq3TE8I
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) August 4, 2024
He also lauded Alcaraz for putting up an equal fight and added:
“Incredible battle, fight. I honestly when the last shot went past him it was the only moment I thought I could win the match. He keeps on coming back and asking me to play my best tennis. It was fair to finish both sets in tiebreak.”
Alcaraz is next expected to play in the Cincinnati Open before the US Open later in August. Djokovic, too, will be skipping the Canadian Open and is yet to announce his next tournament.
But the way the duo is playing, any of them could reclaim the World No.1 ranking from Jannik Sinner in the near future. And it could also mean that fans could get to see another Alcaraz-Djokovic clash in the 2024 season.
