Novak Djokovic hailed Carlos Alcaraz as his biggest competitor, having defeated the reigning Wimbledon and French Open champion to claim the first Olympics gold medal of his career.
The Serbian star was full of praise for Alcaraz, however, having come on top in two tiebreaks at Roland Garros before collapsing to the floor in emotional scenes.
Djokovic then gave an on-court interview where he credited his opponent for continuing to push him to such a high level at the age of 37.
“We almost played three hours in just two sets,” Djokovic told Alex Corretja. “An incredible battle and fight. When the last shot went past him, it was the only moment I thought I could win the match. I mean I believed I could win, but to actually win it.
Alcaraz] keeps on coming back, he keeps on asking me to play my best tennis. I thought the first set I started well. I had chances, he had chances as well. It was fair to finish both sets on a tiebreak. We both had our chances to break but when it mattered, we both came up with some big serves and plays. I put my heart, my soul, my body, my family, everything on the line.
To win Olympic gold at 37, I finally did it. Most of all, it’s my country. The pride of playing for Serbia. I know Carlos and Rafa [Nadal] love to play for Spain, Andy [Murray] loves to play for Great Britain. Roger [Federer] for Switzerland. Alex Zverev won at Tokyo for Germany. You saw the reactions of all these guys when they win; it’s something special.
“This is now my fifth Olympic Games. Three out of four I played semi-finals and never managed to overcome that hurdle for some reason. When I entered the court for the semi-finals against [Lorenzo] Musetti I was thinking about and said ‘let’s get through this one’. That’s why at the beginning of this match I was not as nervous as I had secured a medal but of course I was going for gold. It was intense on the court and I wanted to give it my best. I think the fact I qualified for the final already helped.”
