By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday August 4, 2024
Carlos Alcaraz did everything he could to make himself a gold medal winner, but Novak Djokovic was a man on a mission on Sunday in Paris and took the dream from the 21-year-old Spaniard.
After his 7-6(3), 7-6(2) loss in a final of the highest quality, the four-time major champion tried to make sense of the experience.
“It is painful,” he said. “It’s painful to lose the way that I lost this match. I had my opportunities, I had chances… I couldn’t take them.
“Novak was playing great, he deserved his position. In the difficult moments he increased his level, he played unbelievable shots and unbelievable games.”
Alcaraz certainly has nothing to hang his head over. He played exceptional tennis as he tried to complete the Roland-Garros-Wimbledon-Olympics trifecta, but Djokovic, on this day, was simply too good.
“I’m a little bit disappointed but honestly I am going to leave the court with my head really high,” he said. “I gave everything that I had fighting for Spain it was everything to me. I’m proud of the way that I played today.”
After the match former gold medal winner Rafael Nadal took to social media to praise and console his compatriot. His message? “I know that today is a difficult day, value a medal that is very important for the entire country and you will see, over time, that it is for you too,” Nadal wrote in Spanish.
The Spaniard, at 21, will have several shots to win gold, and he said that he believes it will happen for him. The good news for him, is that he has the perfect example of perseverance in the man that defeated him on Sunday. Djokovic, 20 years into his career, and in his fifth Olympic games, finally realized a dream that not even the great Roger Federer has managed to accomplish.
“Honestly I always want to win that’s for sure, but honestly taking home a silver medal, I have to be really proud,” Alcaraz said. “I am building a really great career, I hope that it is going to keep going. I am really proud to be in this position and I am really proud to bring a medal to Spain.
“I am pretty sure that my moment will come. I will bring the gold medal to Spain one day, so I am going to wait for that moment and I am going to work for that moment. Right now I have to enjoy it – the silver is pretty amazing as well.”