Ethan Sears
Novak Djokovic checked off one of the only boxes left in his illustrious career.
The 37-year-old Serb became the fifth player of all-time to complete the Golden Slam, doing so in an epochal gold medal match at Roland Garros, defeating Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) to join Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams as the only players to ever win all four majors along with Olympic gold.
“Arguably the biggest success I’ve ever had,” Djokovic said on Peacock’s broadcast. “I won everything there is to win in my career, but winning the Davis Cup and [Olympic] gold for Serbia at age 37, it’s unprecedented. Just starting my celebration, I can’t wait to see what’s coming up in the next 48 hours.”
After a meniscus tear for Djokovic deprived the French Open of a final between the two best players in the world and likely helped prevent Djokovic from seriously contesting a straight-sets loss to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, this nearly three-hour thriller of a final set the sport’s best rivalry right back where it belonged.
Upon victory, Djokovic turned into a puddle, sobbing into a towel before lifting the Serbian flag and climbing into his box. Alcaraz let forth tears though there was no joy in accompaniment.
“It is painful to lose the way I lost this match,” Alcaraz said on Peacock. “I had my opportunities. I had my chances. … I couldn’t take it.
“Novak is playing great. In the difficult moments, he increases his level. He played unbelievable.”
The best of both players was on display, with titanic rallies and out-of-nowhere shot-making, and neither could touch the other’s serve throughout.
The worst was also the worst, with Djokovic yelling at his box in Serbian and Alcaraz repeatedly looking frustrated after errors.
Djokovic’s experience, in the end, won out over the swashbuckling Spaniard.
So did the sport of tennis, which often plays second fiddle at the Olympics but had the eyes of the world on it Sunday as one of its great rivalries played out with a gold medal on the line.
In a match where he was required to play all but perfectly, Djokovic never took his eye off the ball. It was his first title of the year and one of the finest best-of-three finals he’s ever played.
It left him telling Peacock that his career was, in essence, complete and giving rare introspection on live television.
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“I’m telling myself, always, that I’m enough,” Djokovic said. “Because I can be very self-critical, that’s one of my biggest internal battles, and I keep fighting myself. I don’t feel like I’ve done enough or been enough on or off the court.
“It’s been a blessing for me. I’m super-grateful to win a historic gold medal for my country, to complete the golden slam, to complete all the records.”
From the outset, neither player was leaving anything on the table.
A titanic first set, in which neither player was broken, featured an array of shot-making on either side. It featured a titanic 18-point game at four-all, during which Djokovic fought off a foursome of breakpoints, serving and volleying with expert precision.
It featured Alcaraz fending off a set point in the very next game.
Finally, it featured Djokovic taking decisive control in a tiebreak, on minute 95 of the first set following four straight points that made Alcaraz rue the earlier break points he lost and taking the set with a lunging forehand volley that only he could have gotten, 7-3 in the breaker.
The second set played out much the same as the first — both players holding serve, making shots from everywhere on the court, veering towards another tiebreak.
Once it got to six-all, a forehand winner to produce a mini-break on the tiebreak’s first point quickly gave Djokovic the upper hand.
He never relinquished it, even as Alcaraz challenged him to hit picture-perfect winners.
On this Sunday afternoon in Paris, though, picture-perfect is just what Djokovic was.
After discussing his internal battles, Djokovic was asked whether he felt his achievements now—a record 24 majors, a record 40 Masters, a record seven ATP finals, a Davis Cup, and now an Olympic gold medal—were enough.
“I think so,” he said, and the celebrating continued.
