Novak Djokovic promised to celebrate his Olympics victory in style, and he looks to be doing just that.
The Serb clinched a first ever gold medal with a 7-6, 7-6 victory over Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros to complete the ‘Career Golden Slam’ at the age of 37.
After the match, the 24-time Grand Slam champion was visibly emotional, breaking down in tears and after the match hailed the achievement as ‘arguably the biggest success’ in his stellar career.
Djokovic then revealed that his ecstatic reaction to winning would only be the beginning of his celebrations, as he vowed to mark the all-important success.
He told Eurosport: “I’m just starting my celebration. I can’t wait for what’s coming up in the next 48 hours.”
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And it was not long before fans could gain a glimpse into what the star meant by this, as he was later spotted dancing with his fellow Serbian athletes after arriving back in the Olympic village.
In a video, Djokovic can be seen dancing joyfully in the middle of a circle whilst draped in a Serbia flag, as his teammates skip around him with traditional music playing in the background.
Prior to this, the 37-year-old had enjoyed the momentous occasion with some of his fans, embracing supporters gathered outside of the Philippe Chatrier court, and jumping up and down to their chanting of his name.
The jubilant scenes could arguably have been predicted ahead of the tournament, as Djokovic made it clear just how much he wanted to clinch the only prize that has eluded him in his career.
In a video uploaded on TikTok before his first match at the Paris Games, the all-time great is shown praying for a gold medal.
Despite winning bronze whilst still 21 at Beijing 2008, he then failed to upgrade his medal in the three Olympic campaigns which followed, Djokovic’s age meant that this summer was surely his last realistic chance of answering his prayers.
And the sporting legend certainly had to be at his best to write his name into history, with Spain’s Alcaraz coming into the final off the back of successive Grand Slam wins at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
The latter major victory came against Djokovic just three weeks ago, where he was beaten convincingly in straight sets, but there was to be no repeat of this in the Games decider.
After the match, Alcaraz also struggled to contain his emotions, as he was reduced to tears in his on-court interview.
On losing the final, he remarked: “It’s painful to lose the way I lost this match. I had my chances to probably be up in the match. I couldn’t take it.
Despite this, the 21-year-old admitted: “I’m a bit disappointed but honestly I’ll leave the court with my head really really high.
“I gave everything I had. Fighting for Spain was everything to me. I’m proud with the way I played today.”
Djokovic’s victory sees him join fellow greats Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal in winning all four Grand Slams and the Olympic singles final.