Daily Times

Novak Djokovic’s Olympic triumph against Carlos Alcaraz completes his collection of the game’s biggest honours and enhances his status as the greatest men’s player of all time.

The Serbian top seed defied a 16-year age gap at Roland Garros on Sunday to win 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2) in what was likely to be his final shot at Olympic glory.

The 37-year-old had nothing to prove against a young rival who has time on his side to surpass even his own achievements but he showed an intense desire to win. At the moment of victory he dropped to the red clay, shaking with emotion, showing how much victory meant for him.

The Serbian is already out on his own with 24 Grand Slams — four more than career-long rivals Roger Federer and two ahead of Rafael Nadal.

He also has a stack of other records in men’s tennis including a record 40 Masters-level titles and most weeks at number one — a staggering 428. But up until Sunday his best performance at the Olympics was a bronze in singles at the Beijing Games in 2008.

He had not won a single tournament so far this year but in Paris he showed the astonishing will to win that sets him apart as he simply refused to be beaten.

Djokovic did not launch his career in a vacuum — he started out at a time when Federer and Nadal were hoovering up nearly all the major titles.

When the Serb won his first Grand Slam, at the Australian Open in 2008, Federer was already on 12 majors and Nadal had taken virtual ownership of the French Open.

Djokovic did not win another major until 2011 but since then he has been voracious, despite the occasional fallow period.

He has made no secret of his aim to be the greatest of all and few would now argue against that. Just weeks ago he had to pull out of the French Open ahead his quarter-final before undergoing knee surgery.

But he returned to reach the Wimbledon final, where he was humbled by Alcaraz in straight sets. Despite his astonishing achievements, while Nadal and the now-retired Federer are adored across the world, Djokovic, even now, sharply divides opinion.

He famously had to battle Federer and a pro-Swiss crowd in the 2019 Wimbledon final, which he won after saving match points.

An exasperated John McEnroe expressed his frustration at the way that Djokovic is sometimes treated during last month’s Wimbledon.

“He’s like the Darth Vader compared to two of the classiest acts we’ve seen play tennis — Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer,” he said.