Categories: Trending now

Novak Djokovic wins first tennis Olympic gold medal : NPR

2024-08-05 00:00:02

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic reacts to beating Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz to win gold after their men’s singles final tennis match at the Roland-Garros Stadium Sunday during the Paris Olympics. It was Djokovic’s first-ever gold medal.

Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP via Getty Images


hide caption

toggle caption

Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP via Getty Images

NPR is in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. For more of our coverage from the games head to our latest updates.

PARIS — Novak Djokovic is used to winning on tennis’s biggest stages.

He’s the all-time leader for most Grand Slam men’s singles titles (24). He’s just one of three men to hold all four Grand Slam championships simultaneously. When he won the French Open last year, he became the first man to win each Grand Slam event — the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open — at least three times.

But at 37, there was one elusive title that escaped him during his long and glorious career: Olympic champion.

That drought ended Sunday at famed Roland-Garros stadium where the number-two ranked player has had so much success before. In straight sets (both won in a tiebreak), Djokovic ended the match when he swatted a forehand winner against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz. The crowd erupted.

The righthander, who started playing tennis when he was four and turned professional more than two decades ago in 2003, shook hands with Alcaraz and then collapsed onto the red clay court. On all fours, he began sobbing and shaking. The intensity of his emotion was surprising.

This tennis superstar who has winning records against the greats like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, and who had won so much in his career now had the one title that eluded him for far too long: an Olympic gold medal. He’d won a bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But the last thing missing from an otherworldly tennis resume had escaped him.

Against the young Spaniard who won the French Open on this same court in June and who beat the Serbian last month at Wimbledon to claim his fourth grand slam, the victory here in Paris meant something to Djokovic.

He came achingly close at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 when he attempted to do something no man has done before: claim the ‘Golden’ Slam. That’s winning all four Grand Slam tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in a single year. Under pressure to do the unbelievable, he came up short, losing in the semifinals. Now a total of five people have won career golden slams (Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and now Djokovic)

In Paris, none of the past mattered. Djokovic was golden.

News Today

Share
Published by
News Today

Recent Posts

Kareena Kapoor’s Next Untitled Film With Meghna Gulzar Gets Prithviraj Sukumaran On Board

Kareena Kapoor is working with Raazi director Meghna Gulzar for her next film. The project,…

20 hours ago

Purdue basketball freshman Daniel Jacobsen injured vs Northern Kentucky

2024-11-09 15:00:03 WEST LAFAYETTE -- Daniel Jacobsen's second game in Purdue basketball's starting lineup lasted…

20 hours ago

Rashida Jones honors dad Quincy Jones with heartfelt tribute: ‘He was love’

2024-11-09 14:50:03 Rashida Jones is remembering her late father, famed music producer Quincy Jones, in…

20 hours ago

Nosferatu Screening at Apollo Theatre Shows Student Interest in Experimental Cinema – The Oberlin Review

2024-11-09 14:40:03 A silent German expressionist film about vampires accompanied by Radiohead’s music — what…

20 hours ago

What Are Adaptogens? Find Out How These 3 Herbs May Help You Tackle Stress Head-On

Let's face it - life can be downright stressful! With everything moving at breakneck speed,…

20 hours ago

The new Mac Mini takes a small step towards upgradeable storage

Apple’s redesigned Mac Mini M4 has ditched the previous M2 machine’s SSD that was soldered…

20 hours ago