Check out the story of how Novak Djokovic defeated Carlos Alcaraz to win his first Olympic gold. (1:04)
"When I take everything into consideration, this probably is the biggest sporting success I ever had in my career," said Djokovic, who didn't drop a set in Paris and is the oldest man to win the Summer Games tennis title since 1908. "This kind of supersedes everything that I imagined, that I hoped that I could experience, that I could feel."
With margins so thin that any mistake felt as if it could tilt things, Djokovic was at his best when the stakes were highest, dominating each of the two tiebreakers against Alcaraz, who beat him in the Wimbledon final three weeks ago.
"In the close moments, in the difficult situations, in the tiebreaks, he played an impressive game," said Alcaraz, the 21-year-old from Spain who sobbed, too, after falling short of becoming the youngest male singles gold medalist. "That's why I saw that he's hungry for the gold medal. He was going to go for it."
Djokovic already owns a men's-record 24 Grand Slam trophies and the most weeks spent atop the rankings by any man or woman. He also already owned an Olympics medal, from 2008, but it was a bronze -- and he made it clear that simply wasn't sufficient. He kept talking over the past week, but also the past months, what a priority the gold was for him, and Alcaraz said Sunday he kept hearing it.
Before he faced Paris bronze medalist Lorenzo Musetti of Italy on Friday, Djokovic had been 0-3 in Olympic semifinals, losing to the gold winner each time: Rafael Nadal at Beijing in 2008, Andy Murray at London in 2012, and Alexander Zverev in Tokyo three years ago.
This time, Djokovic said, "I was ready."
In Paris, wearing a gray sleeve over the right knee that required surgery for a torn meniscus two months ago, Djokovic faced Nadal in the second round and eliminated his longtime rival in straight sets.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic drops to his knees after beating Spain's Carlos Alcaraz to win his first career gold medal. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
The 2-hour, 50-minute final featured one of the best to ever do it, in Djokovic -- and the "highest mountain to climb at the moment," in Alcaraz, as Djokovic put it.
There was superb ball-striking, deft drop shots and tremendous sprinting, sliding, stretching defense. The No. 1-seeded Djokovic saved eight break points, while No. 2 Alcaraz saved six. Pressure? Ha. What pressure?
"We both played at a very high level," Djokovic said. "We really went toe-to-toe."
The only shame, perhaps, for the fans -- and naturally, Alcaraz -- was that the Olympics uses a best-of-three-set format, instead of the best-of-five at Grand Slam tournaments. Those in the stands became part of the show, breaking out into choruses of "No-le! No-le!" or "Car-los! Car-los!" that often overlapped, creating an operatic fugue. As Alcaraz attempted to mount a comeback, his supporters chanted "Si, se puede!" (essentially, "Yes, you can!").
Yet the place was as quiet as a theater between points; play was delayed briefly when a young child's crying pierced the air that was thick with anticipation.
