Novak Djokovic hails Olympic gold medal as 'biggest sporting success'

Between his record 24 majors, 40 ATP 1000 titles and seven ATP Finals wins, Novak Djokovic already had a bulletproof case for the greatest of all time. The only piece of hardware missing from his trophy case — an Olympic gold medal — was also secured Sunday when he defeated Carlos Alcaraz in Paris.

After the win, the Serb admitted feeling a sense of fulfillment from winning an Olympic gold medal that he didn't attain even after all those major wins and the years spent as World No. 1.

"This kind of supersedes everything I imagined and hoped I could experience and feel, Djokovic told the media. "The fact I won Bronze in the first Olympics [2008] and ever since failed to win a medal. I played three out of four Olympic games in the semifinals and couldn't overcome the obstacle. And now, at age 37, against a 21-year-old who is probably the best player in the world [Alcaraz]...when I take everything into consideration, this is probably the biggest sporting success I've ever had in my career."

Djokovic also became the oldest Olympic gold medalist since the 1988 Seoul Olympics where Czechia's Miloslav Mecir went the distance at age 38. Due to his age and recent injury history — not to mention back-to-back Wimbledon finals losses to Alcaraz — Djokovic went into Sunday's match as the underdog. It's why his emotions got the best of him when he beat the Spaniard 7-6, 7-6 at Roland Garros.

The Olympic final between Djokovic and Alcaraz was also a great endorsement for tennis. For years, the Olympic tennis competition has been viewed as a subpar tournament where most top players either withdraw due to injuries or prefer to sit out of the event to prioritize the major tournaments. However, the fact that both Djokovic and Alcaraz showed so much emotion after the match — the Spaniard couldn't control his tears after the loss — was a positive sign for the stakes of tennis events at future Olympiads.

Speaking of future Olympiads, Djokovic has declared his intention to play at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The Serb will be 41 when the Games return to the City of Angels for the first time since 1984.