Tennis | Novak Djokovic wins gold

(Paris) Serbian Novak Djokovic won the first Olympic gold medal of his career by beating Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in two sets of 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2), Sunday, during the men’s tennis tournament at the Paris Games.

The 37-year-old Djokovic needed two hours and 50 minutes to add the last major achievement he lacked to his glittering list of achievements.

Djokovic’s impressive career already included a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles and the most weeks spent at world number one for either men or women.

The Serb had already won a medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, but it was a bronze. He made it clear that it was simply not enough.

Before beating Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in Friday’s semifinal, Djokovic was 0-3 at this point in an Olympic singles tournament. Each time, he had lost to the eventual champion, including Rafael Nadal of Spain in 2008, Andy Murray of Britain in 2012 and Alexander Zverev of Germany in 2021.

Djokovic became the oldest man to win singles gold in his sport since 1908. He also denied Alcaraz, who is 21, the chance to become the youngest.

It was a rematch of the Wimbledon final three weeks ago, which Alcaraz won following his Roland Garros title in June.

Alcaraz had also defeated Djokovic in the 2023 final at the All England Club. The Serb, however, had defeated the Spaniard in the semi-finals of the French Open, on the clay surface that was also used for the Olympic Games.

There were several long rallies filled with great baseline hitting and great drop shots — Alcaraz’s tended to be more successful and were sometimes so good that even Djokovic refused to chase them — and huge defensive sprints from both sides. They served so well that neither was broken once: Djokovic saved eight break points while Alcaraz saved six.

Bronze for the Spanish women in doubles

Earlier in the day, Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo won the bronze medal in the women’s doubles.

Busca and Sorribes Tormo defeated the Czechs Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova in two sets of 6-2, 6-2.

Bucsa and Sorribes Tormo won Spain’s fifth medal in women’s doubles at the Summer Games. They had also triumphed together at a tournament in Madrid in May.

Neither woman has ever won a Grand Slam doubles title.

Later Sunday, in the women’s doubles final, Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider were aiming for the gold medal for individual neutral athletes, because their country, Russia, was not allowed to be represented in Paris.

Andreeva and Shnaider are set to face Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini.

Muchova and Noskova, making their team debuts, eliminated tournament favourites Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula of the United States in the second round.

Muchova was a finalist in singles at the 2023 French Open and reached the semifinals of the US Open.

Muchova returned to action in June after a 10-month absence due to surgery on her right wrist.

Noskova, 19, beat world number one Iga Swiatek in the third round of the Australian Open in January.