Perfect career

Final! Djokovic against Alcaraz from 12 noon LIVE

Novak Djokovic is the Olympic champion.

(Bild: AFP/APA/Patricia DE MELO MOREIRA)

Novak Djokovic has crowned his career with the "Golden Slam"! The Serbian tennis star beat Carlos Alcaraz 7:6 (4), 7:6 (2) in the final of the Olympic tournament in Paris to claim the last remaining title. Afterwards, his emotions ran wild. He fell to his knees, thanked God and celebrated with his family.

Full focus, full support before the fulfillment of the last big dream. "Nole, Nole" chants rang out as Novak Djokovic entered Court Philippe Chatrier to finally become Olympic champion, to win the only title he still lacked in his career. In contrast to his second round match against Rafael Nadal, the majority of the crowd at Roland Garros tended to side with the Serb in his duel with the second Spanish tennis star. Perhaps not in terms of numbers, but acoustically.

(Bild: AFP/APA/CARL DE SOUZA)

Djokovic's strong start also helped. The 24-time Grand Slam winner was fully present right from the start. After a fairly confident service game, Djokovic earned the first break point of the match, but Alcaraz fended it off with a stop. The first highlight of a magnificent round, in which Djokovic was initially the better player, passed the Spaniard with a magnificent shot and once again won three break points.

(Bild: AFP/CARL DE SOUZA)

But like Djokovic himself or his role model Rafael Nadal, Alcaraz often plays best when he is under pressure. Although his powerful forehand now caused his opponent to make mistakes, he took command of the court from the middle of the set. The ninth game almost became the logical turning point. In a game lasting a good quarter of an hour, Alcaraz got himself five break chances, but was a little too playful or overconfident in the form of shots that were too hard and sailed out of bounds.

93 minutes for the first set 
So Djokovic suddenly had set point at 6:5, but he could only applaud his 21-year-old opponent's passing shot. Both players had shone mentally until then, but Djokovic's routine prevailed in the tie-break. The decisive factor proved to be the shot, which he raised to a new level. With a pinpoint return down the line, he managed the mini-break to 4:3, then got both his serves through and also set up the last point to make it 7:3 in the tiebreak of this 93 (!) minute mammoth set thanks to his strong return.

This success spurred the world number two on even more. He immediately had another break point, but Alcaraz fended it off with a difficult volley stop. Another one in his second game with a forehand that almost broke the sound barrier ...

In general, the Spaniard was now having much more trouble with his service games and Djokovic was reading his service very well. However, the biggest difference now was that the veteran simply stopped making mistakes. And that is the skill that Alcaraz still lacks in order to become a similar "over-player" to Djokovic. In terms of ability, the Spaniard may even surpass the big three, but he is still a diamond in the rough at times, which may even be frightening for the competition, who doesn't always use the best shot for the moment and sometimes applies too much power.

Amazement at Alcaraz
Carlos Alcaraz was also a spectacle on this final day. The seemingly hopeless balls, which he still managed to catch and turn into points to everyone's amazement, caused the crowd to burst into applause, as did his stops at critical moments. You can only shake your head at the force of some of his forehands.

But it was Djokovic's clinical precision that prevailed on this day. When the 37-year-old served two aces in a row exactly on the line cross, but especially in the decider of the second round, when almost every one of his balls landed within the last 15 centimetres of the line, whether on the back or the sides. Djokovic was untouched on his own serve, while Alcaraz repeatedly pulled out of trouble in sensational fashion.

So the second tiebreak of the final was the logical consequence. Djokovic got off to a dream start with a forehand crosswinner, while Alcaraz again pulled the trigger too hard, hitting the net for 0:2. And after the Spaniard came back, Djokovic suddenly beat him with his own weapons. He fought his way back into a rally, scored with a powerful forehand counter-attack and made it 4:2 with a net attack. Alcaraz was now broken. He nervously hit two more easy balls into the net. After 2:50 hours, Djokovic finally made himself the Olympic champion with a forehand shot. After that, he and his fans were left speechless.