Novak Djokovic Wins His First Olympic Gold Medal: Novak Djokovic added to his already gargantuan legacy when he won the gold medal in the men’s singles tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics, making him the fifth player to complete the Golden Slam.
Djokovic has been the best tennis player in the world in the past decade; he might just be the best of the 21st century and is in the conversation of being the greatest athlete in his sport. The Serbian has won a whopping 24 Grand Slams, which is the joint-most Slam wins in tennis history alongside Margaret Court and the most in men’s tennis outright.
But there was one achievement that had eluded the Djoker throughout his career. For all he had achieved in tennis, the legendary player had never won an Olympic gold medal. Something he achieved at the 2024 Olympics when he defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the men’s singles tournament 7-6, 7-6.
Novak Djokovic Wins His First Olympic Gold Medal
Making his Olympic debut in the 2008 Beijing Games, he came into the tournament as a one-time Grand Slam champion and won a bronze medal. In 2012 in London, he was the flagbearer for his country and reached the semi-final for a second time in a row, where he lost to the hometown hero Andy Murrey before losing the bronze medal match to Juan Martín del Potro.
Novak Djokovic met Del Porto once more at Rio 2016, this time in the first round. Coming into the Olympics with a Nole Slam (being the champion of all four Grand Slams), the then world No. 1 lost in the first round.
Looking to do better than his bronze medal win, Djokovic participated in the Tokyo 2020 men’s singles tournament, where he was defeated in the semi-final by Alexander Zverev and in the bronze medal match by Pablo Carreño Busta. He also took part in the mixed doubles event at that Olympics, partnering with Nina Stojanovic, where the pair lost the semi-final and the bronze medal match as well.
In the 2024 Paris Olympics, the now 37-year-old participated in what might be his last Olympic games. In a tough competition, the Serbian had to defeat Rafael Nadal in the second round at the Roland Garros Stadium, where Nadal has won a mind-boggling 14 French Opens.
In round four, or the quarterfinal, Novak defeated a tricky Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece before beating Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the semis. Having won all his matches in straight sets so far, Novak Djokovic made it to the final of the Olympic games for the first time in his career, where he faced Carlos Alcaraz, the man who had defeated him in the Wimbledon final about a month ago.
Djokovic won the match in straight sets as well, although both of them went into the tiebreaker. And just like that, he had won the Olympic gold medal for the first time in his career.
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With this win, the Serbian icon has completed a Golden Slam, which is to win every Grand Slam and an Olympic gold medal at least once.
In all this time during which Djokovic struggled to win an Olympic gold, he has won 24 grand Slams, a record in men’s tennis, which includes a record 10 Australian Open wins.
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