Novak Djokovic reacts to Carlos Alcaraz's 'I let Spain down' remark after striking historic Olympic gold at Paris Games

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Novak Djokovic finally had tears of joy at the Olympic Games on Sunday. The record-time Grand Slam winner and top seed dominated the men's singles tennis tournament to secure his first-ever gold medal at the Paris Olympics. Djokovic outclassed Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz in the summit clash to complete his career Golden Slam at the Paris Games. While Djokovic scripted history with a historic gold, Spain's Alcaraz settled for silver after a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) loss to the Serbian ace at the iconic Court Philippe Chatrier.

Djokovic described his Olympic gold medal win as probably his “biggest sporting success”. The newly crowned gold medallist also revealed that he may defend the title at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Djokovic will be 41 in the next edition of the Summer Games. Losing to Djokovic and settling for silver, Alcaraz could not hold back tears after the final showdown between the two gladiators in Paris. Reflecting on the defeat, Alcaraz said that he put more pressure on himself because he was playing for Spain.

"I feel that I let the Spanish people down. I feel they were waiting for the gold medal," Alcaraz mentioned. Backing young Alcaraz for Olympic glory, Djokovic reached out to the Spaniard after the historic gold medal encounter in Paris. Talking about his epic final, which he termed the El Clasico of tennis, Djokovic backed Alcaraz to win 20 medals in the Olympics with Spain.

What Djokovic said about Alcaraz after Paris Olympics final

“Another epic final. El clasico. Congratulations to you and your team for an excellent Olympics. Considering your age, your energy and the way you play, you probably have 20 more Olympics ahead of you. Your gold will come. Until next time, amigo,” Djokovic said.

Did you know?

The men's singles final was a rematch of the 2024 Wimbledon final. Alcaraz upstaged Djokovic in the Wimbledon to claim his fourth Grand Slam this year. The 21-year-old was aiming to become the youngest Olympics men's singles champion of all time. Carlos was also hoping to emulate Rafael Nadal's feat of winning a gold medal for Spain in his debut campaign at the Olympics.