Records shatter as Novak Djokovic completes career Golden Slam at Paris Olympics 2024

Novak Djokovic becomes oldest ever singles champion at the Olympics

Records shatter as Novak Djokovic completes career Golden Slam at Paris Olympics 2024

Novak Djokovic (via Imago)

Novak Djokovic has achieved everything there is to achieve in the sport of tennis with his historic win over Carlos Alcaraz (7-6(3), 7-6(2)) at the Summer Olympics in Paris. In doing so, he became the fifth player to complete a Career Golden Slam – winning all four Grand Slams and the Olympic gold.

He is the only player to have won all major titles in the sport – all nine ATP Masters 1000 titles, all four Grand Slams, and the coveted Olympic gold that eluded him for sixteen long years. At 37 years, 2 months, and 12 days old, he is also the oldest player ever to win an Olympic gold in singles tennis, to even compete in the final, and to complete a Golden Slam. He has also won each of the nine Masters titles at least twice and each Grand Slam title at least thrice, a record that no one is close to.

The only players to achieve a golden slam are Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi, Serena Williams and Steffi Graf. However, only two players, Djokovic and Agassi, have completed a Career Super Slam – winning all four Grand Slams, Olympic gold, Davis Cup and the Tour Finals. The resolve displayed by Djokovic in the final was the differentiating factor as it helped him play two nearly perfect tiebreaks, making no unforced errors in the second one. 

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It was the first time ever that the top two seeds played each other at the Olympics, making Djokovic the only top seed to defeat the next best player in the world at an Olympics final. The Serb is also one of the only players to win both bronze and gold medals in singles, having won bronze in his debut in 2008, and the gold in possibly his last Olympics, in 2024.

Records broken by Carlos Alcaraz in his Olympics debut 

On Friday, August 2nd, Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest player ever to reach a men’s singles final at the Olympics and he achieved this on his debut. After one of the closest matches of his career, he had to settle for silver in his first time representing Spain at the Summer Games.

He is the youngest player ever to win a silver medal at the Olympics tennis event. He is also one of the only players to reach the final in their first attempt and the last one to do this was his compatriot, Rafael Nadal, in 2008 where he went all the way to secure the gold medal.

He also became just the third Spaniard to make the final of an Olympics in the open era, behind Manolo Santana (who won gold in 1968, when the open era began) and Rafael Nadal (2008).

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