August 4 might have appeared to be an strange Parisian Sunday stuffed with laze and rest. It was something however that on the planet of tennis as Novak Djokovic cemented his standing as probably the most prolific participant within the Open Period.
The person, donning primarily purple, fell to the hallowed purple filth of Courtroom Philippe-Chatrier. Djokovic couldn’t maintain again his tears as a result of he knew this was it. Nothing got here near how a lot the 99th title of his profession meant. He had, eventually, overcome his longest-standing hurdle.
Victory on the Summer time Video games — it was no extra a distant dream, it was now a really actual results of the limitless work he had put in and one which he’ll undoubtedly maintain closest to his coronary heart.
Possibly it needed to do with the legendary nature of the Olympiad. Possibly it needed to do with conquering the unconquered in his fifth try. Or possibly, it had one thing to do with proving to the world, and himself to some extent, that he was not an outsider. That’s what he had craved all alongside — not the endless stream of titles, not the 185 million USD in prize cash, however acceptance. That Novak Djokovic can be a reputation that belongs in the identical dialog as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
He was all the time thought-about the ‘third social gathering’ among the many Huge Three.
Earlier than his entry, the present rivalry on the forefront of males’s tennis between the Swiss Federer and Spaniard Nadal was ultimate from an viewers’s perspective.
Nadal’s gritty warrior-like nature was the precise antithesis of Federer’s sleek poise. It was the right conflict of ideologies.
They went hand-in-glove with one another. It was the right pairing. After which, out of nowhere, got here this boisterous Serbian expertise, who turned professional at 15. Djokovic disrupted the fairytale storyline.
However none of that issues anymore.
The Serb had conquered his last peak and fittingly sealed his profession Golden Slam with an Olympic gold, changing into solely the fifth participant to take action after Steffi Graff, Andre Agassi, Serena Williams and Nadal.
In his quest to etch his title within the tennis books as one of many biggest to ever do it, Djokovic has gone above and past and obliterated any room there might have been for debate.
With 99 titles, 24 Majors (10 Australian Open, three Roland-Garros, seven Wimbledon and 4 US Open), the elusive Olympic Gold, 1116 singles victories, and a win price of 83.5%, Novak Djokovic has single-handedly put an finish to a dialog spanning many years and has proved himself to be the perfect participant to ever decide up a tennis racquet.
The ultimate piece of the puzzle
Paris 2024 would mark Djokovic’s fifth try at taking residence the gold on the Summer time Video games, an uncharacteristically lengthy wait for somebody so used to successful every thing he contests.
The closest the Serb had come earlier than this was on his debut in Beijing 2008 when he got here third after shedding to nemesis Nadal earlier than beating American James Blake within the bronze-medal match.
Djokovic started the 2012 season by successful his third Australian Open title after beating Nadal within the longest Grand Slam last in Open Period historical past, a real show of the Serb’s grit and perseverance.
He reached the semifinals of the Olympics once more however misplaced to the eventual champion, Andy Murray, and succumbed to Juan Martin del Potro within the bronze-medal encounter in London.
Rio 2016 and the pandemic-hit Tokyo Video games produced comparable disappointments when Djokovic crashed out within the first spherical to Del Potro in Brazil and misplaced the bronze-medal match to Pablo Carreno Busta in 2021.
The ten-time Australian Open winner started this 12 months with a primary loss in Melbourne since 2018, his solely semifinal exit on the Rod Laver Area, to Jannik Sinner.
On the Geneva Open, he claimed his 1100th win on his thirty seventh birthday, changing into solely the third Open participant to take action after Jimmy Connors and rival Federer.
At French Open, he was pressured to relinquish his crown and withdraw from the event attributable to a tear in his medial meniscus in the correct knee.
Djokovic would then bear surgical procedure and return in time for the All-England Championships. He battled his option to the summit conflict the place he confronted, one more Spaniard, defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz coasted to a profitable Wimbledon title defence as he humbled Djokovic by beating him in straight units — 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4).
The wunderkind, touted to be Nadal’s next-in-line, appeared to have all of the solutions to the Serb’s hopeful prods. Alcaraz managed to power 25 unforced errors out of the in any other case immaculate Djokovic on his option to the crown.
Tennis on the Paris Olympics introduced with it an entire new spectrum of nuances. After eight days of scintillating motion, the Males’s singles finals beckoned.
Djokovic eventually, or Alcaraz for the primary time?
The Serb began strongly by successful the primary recreation and Alcaraz returned the favour. The primary actual take a look at for the 24-time Grand Slam winner got here within the ninth recreation when Djokovic displayed his mettle as he saved not one, not two, however 5 break factors to carry his serve and lead 5-4!
With each gamers holding their serve, the opening set of the gold medal match went right into a tiebreak.
With Alcaraz down three set factors, the Spaniard hit a cross-court forehand which Djokovic ever so deftly returned to take residence the primary set.
Standing tall
There he stood tall – clad within the purple, blue and white of his homeland, on the purple filth of Courtroom Philippe-Chatrier – as he thrust his arm within the air and held his pose. The proper silhouette — the white cap, his piercing cheekbones, fist closed, the Lacoste wristband, even the sweat dripping down his forearm frozen in that second.
The Serbian tennis titan resembled the steely resolve of a God rising from Olympus. The bottom quaking, virtually prefer it was getting ready for the inevitable. He was getting nearer and you possibly can scent the starvation, instilling in you a deathly worry.
The second set embarked similarly. One equal to the opposite, every holding his personal in an indication of approach, grit, and self-discipline. Quickly sufficient, the second set headed to a tiebreak as properly.
Djokovic claimed the opening level with a monster forehand. The normally composed Alcaraz turned feral. The frustration was taking on. He did properly to degree the rating at 2-2. The Serb would go on to win the subsequent 4.
With 4 gold medal factors, Novak Djokovic was on the receiving finish of the serve. He was seconds away from the tip.
Alcaraz’s serve down the center, Djokovic’s return to the baseline, a below-par backhand to Djokovic, and a venomous forehand down the road later, it was over.
The 2024 Olympic gold medallist set free an prolonged grunt as he hit that final shot. He had performed it.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic reacts after defeating Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz within the males’s singles tennis last on the Roland Garros Stadium throughout the 2024 Summer time Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France.
| Picture Credit score:
AP
The 37-year-old from Serbia turned to the group as he broke down. The person who had conquered tennis, on all fours, bawling like a child. His thumb finger twitching amidst the incessant crying, Novak Djokovic’s physique was exorcising his demons of current and previous. There was nothing left to do.
The Gods of the game had deemed him worthy. It was time. As he was awarded the gold medal on the Paris Olympics 2024, Djokovic transcended tennis and assumed his throne, arguably on the centre, on the Mount Olympus of tennis.
