Game, Set, Match: Novak Djokovic beats Carlos Alcaraz for Olympic gold in Paris

August 4, 2024

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Game, Set, Match: Novak Djokovic beats Carlos Alcaraz for Olympic gold in Paris

Relive Novak Djokovic’s Olympic gold victory over Carlos Alcaraz with live coverage of the match.

PARIS — Novak Djokovic defeated Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(3), 7-6(2) in the Olympic men’s singles final at Roland Garros in Paris on Sunday.

The No. 1 defeated the No. 2 in an epic battle of intensity and tactical prowess, with Djokovic’s adaptability on serve ultimately proving decisive.

He played two completely flawless tiebreaks, which have become a calling card of his game over the course of 24 Grand Slam singles titles and now, at the age of 37, finally one Olympic gold medal.

Alcaraz wins a silver medal at his first Olympics. The 21-year-old is likely to play at the highest level many more times.

The Athletics Matt Futterman and James Hansen analyse the final and what it means for tennis.

How did Alcaraz and Djokovic make this such an exciting match?

It happens so rarely, especially on the biggest stage when the tension and nerves are running so high. Two players of all times who match each other’s level for a long period and maybe almost an entire match.

From the first balls on Sunday afternoon, it was clear that Djokovic and Alcaraz had come to play — and nothing less than their highest intensity would do. This wasn’t always a match of the highest technical standard, with a few blunders and lazy, foolish returns at key points. But it was a match: grinding, engrossing, and at times reaching heights that only these two could hope to reach, almost when they play each other.

It was a very different story from last month’s Wimbledon final, when Djokovic, 39 days after knee surgery, suffered a setback and Alcaraz blew him off the court.

It was a far cry from the last time these two played on Court Philippe-Chatrier at Roland Garros, in the semifinals of the 2023 French Open. That time, Alcaraz came out of the blocks nervous, played a tough but shaky second set, and then succumbed to nerves and cramps. Djokovic won in four sets.

Sunday saw the Alcaraz who mixes almost every backhand and forehand he can hit, while also hitting the softest, most deceptive drop shot in the world. And the Djokovic who chases down more balls than anyone else and gets them back with the quality that lets him switch from defense to attack in the blink of an eye. This was a case of shared intensity driving things along, less shared stakes. Alcaraz has many more Olympics in him; this is likely Djokovic’s last.

The players improved each other’s quality with force (Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images)

They matched pressure serves. They traded drop-shot returns that went almost parallel to the net. Djokovic groaned with effort when a chance arose. The only way Alcaraz could survive was with one of his decibel-groaning forehands that landed in the deepest corner of the court.

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The first set lasted 93 minutes. What did it take for Djokovic to triumph? Nothing less than one of his trademark flawless tiebreakers and a lunging forehand drop volley that even the fastest player in the match couldn’t be bothered to chase. He repeated the trick in the second set, with two screaming forehands into the corners.

The 2023 Wimbledon final was a five-set thriller in which they took turns at their best, rather than matching each other’s heights, even if they weren’t their best. It was more reminiscent of their final in Cincinnati last August, a three-set, four-hour sweaty affair that Djokovic won in a tiebreaker.

Matt Futterman

How did the tactical battle develop during the match?

After the Wimbledon final, Djokovic was largely optimistic about how well he had been beaten, saying that Alcaraz was simply better in every way. He did have one point of surprise: how well Alcaraz had served.

That same quality—and, more visibly, speed—wasn’t quite there at Roland Garros, but Alcaraz compensated by using body serves with reliable effect, especially in moments of stress, saving three break points in a game in the first set. He then used his kick serve to the ad-side to draw short balls out of Djokovic, and to drive forehands into the open court.

Djokovic, on the other hand, relied on the precision of his placement, particularly hitting serves to the T when serving to the advantage court, which Alcaraz struggled to return. But the real battle was on the deuce side, between Djokovic’s wide serve and Alcaraz’s deep return position. Djokovic could reliably pull a playable ball off Alcaraz’s forehand, and hit it on the rise to the open court.

Until he couldn’t. In the dramatic 4-4 game that would eventually propel him into the first set, Djokovic came in with that tactic at 30-30 and botched an overhead back to Alcaraz. He lost the point.

Djokovic’s lack of confidence in his overhead prompted some tactical adjustments (Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP via Getty Images)

At 40-40 he went to the putt again but hesitated to get behind the forehand, allowing Alcaraz to laser a ball back deep and make a mistake. And then at deuce he hit the forehand again with little conviction, the ball rising off the tape for Alcaraz to beat. Slightly reprimanded, Djokovic continued to play the pattern but was less vocal in moving behind the ball.

Djokovic brought something different to the table. He was able to use Alcaraz’s barely believable foot speed against him and peppered the Spaniard with balls behind his backhand, taking advantage of Alcaraz’s ability to anticipate and get a ball into the open court.

James Hansen

How did Djokovic increase his confidence?

It’s incredible to think that a player with 24 Grand Slam titles could ever doubt his own abilities, but few great players have been as honest about his self-confidence issues as Djokovic.

It doesn’t take much in a sport with so much mental battle: Djokovic came into Sunday’s final honestly with his doubts. He hadn’t won a tournament all year and had never won a gold medal. Alcaraz had won the last two Grand Slam titles and Djokovic knew he hadn’t played at his level since last fall, or even at that of Jannik Sinner, ages ago in tennis. They set the standard in the sport. He didn’t.

But late on Friday night, after winning his semi-final against Lorenzo Musetti, Djokovic, known for having the best brain in the game, gave a masterclass in how to talk himself into victory and take the pressure off Alcaraz.

The Serbian produced the cleanest and loudest display of the ball all year (Thibaud Moritz/AFP via Getty Images)

Alcaraz was the clear favorite, he said, just as he was last year ahead of the semi-final at Roland Garros, when Alcaraz was the world number one and the top-seeded player.

“He has proven that he is the best player in the world at the moment,” Djokovic said of Alcaraz. “He won Roland Garros, he won Wimbledon, beat me there quite easily in the final, reached the final without losing a set.”

But then came the pivot and the window into his mind. He was a different player now, he said, three weeks after his knee surgery. He moved and hit the ball better.

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“Of course I don’t want to take anything away from his victory in the Wimbledon final,” he said. “He was dominant and deserved a winner. But I have more confidence in myself and my chances in the final.”

In other words, the world had changed completely in less than a month, even though it wasn’t.

Besides, it was the Olympics, he said. “To each his own.”

And then it was his, like it had never been before. The ball was shooting off his racquet the whole time, the sound was clear and clean and loud. It was a confidence and a quality we hadn’t seen since that French Open final in 2023 and maybe the US Open final the same year.

Matt Futterman

A tale of three forehands?

Novak Djokovic has perhaps the best backhand in the history of the sport. He has a great stroke that almost never lets him down and he can hit it anywhere on the court.

But if the highlights of this gold medal match are to be pieced together, it will be a series of forehands in the final moments — when everything was on the line — that will stand out. Two came from Alcaraz’s forehands — good, because the Spaniard’s was perfectly fine, pulling Djokovic wide, but not good enough. Not against a man who had the one tennis title that had eluded him within his grasp.

Alcaraz’s forehand failed to penetrate the tiebreaks, while it had been crucial throughout the match (Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP via Getty Images)

The first came on the very first point of the second-set tiebreak, when Djokovic sprinted across the back line at full speed.

Not wanting the third set to be decisive, he threw a magnificent crosscourt curl, into an angle he had also introduced when he arrived on the scene almost 20 years ago and began redefining the dimensions of the court.

That gave him the early mini-break. Four points later, he did it again, again tearing to the right and crosscourt, the kind of “hit-it-like-you-mean-it” (his words) shot he crushed for a winner when he was down match point against Roger Federer in the 2011 US Open semifinals.

Same shot. Same result.

The next point would see another deadly forehand, this time from the inside to the postage stamp corner to set up a forehand.

And then there was one last one, its destination clear before his arm began to move forward. Inside out again, the stamp again, Alcaraz unable to retrieve it and Djokovic crouched on his knees in tears, the gold medal that had eluded him his entire career finally his.

Djokovic hit two cross-court forehands to clinch gold (Alex de Souza/AFP via Getty Images)

Matt Futterman

What did Novak Djokovic say after the final?

“Unbelievable fight, unbelievable fight. When the last shot went past him, that was the only moment I thought I could win the match.

“He keeps asking me to play my best tennis. I think we both made big serves and big plays when it mattered.

“I put my heart, my soul, my body, my family, everything on the line to win Olympic gold. It’s my country above all. The pride of playing for Serbia. Carlos, Rafa, they love playing for Spain… You saw the reactions of these guys when they won. It’s really something special.”