Novak Djokovic defeated Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday to claim a maiden Olympic title and become just the fifth player to complete a career Golden Slam.
The 37-year-old Serb, competing in his fifth Games, came through 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2) in an enthralling final at Roland Garros to add Olympic gold to his 24 Grand Slam triumphs.
Victory allowed him to join Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, Steffi Graf and the watching Serena Williams as the only players to win all four Grand Slam tournaments and Olympic singles gold.
He also became the oldest singles champion since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988 and shattered Alcaraz’s bid to add gold to the French Open and Wimbledon titles he has already pocketed this summer.
An emotional Djokovic celebrated by holding aloft the Serbian flag on court before clambering into the players’ box to embrace his wife and children.
“We almost played three hours, the final shot was the only moment when I was sure I could win the match,” said Djokovic, who had lost heavily to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final last month.
“I put my body, my family on the line to win gold and finally I did it.”
Alcaraz was distraught and wept as he attempted to conduct a TV interview. “Three hours, a big battle with tough moments,” said the 21-year-old after a final in which neither player dropped serve. “It’s very painful to lose.”
Djokovic carved out a break point in the second game of the opener and three more in the fourth, all saved by the Spaniard.
Then it was the Serb’s turn to demonstrate his famed powers of resilience, fighting off three break points in the fifth game and another five in a marathon ninth game.
In a rollercoaster duel, Alcaraz saved a set point in the 12th game but his veteran opponent dominated the tiebreak to claim the opener after a breathless 93 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier.
There was no let-up in the second set, scintillating shot-making alongside rousing defence with Alcaraz fighting off the final’s 14th break point in the third game.
Again the set was decided by a tie-break and it was Djokovic with history on the line again sweeping through to take victory after two hours and 50 minutes.
Lorenzo Musetti defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime in three sets on Saturday to claim the bronze medal, giving Italy its first men’s tennis medal in 100 years.
STUNNING GOLF TURNAROUND AFTER HORROR COLLAPSE
World number one Scottie Scheffler struck a sublime nine-under 62 in the final round of the men’s golf competition to claim gold in Paris as Spaniard Jon Rahm suffered a horror late collapse. Great Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood threatened to win as the tournament enjoyed a thrilling finish, but a bogey on 17 saw him finish second on 18-under overall, one shot behind Scheffler’s stunning 19-under. Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama carded a six-under 65 to finish a further shot behind in third.
Scheffler birdied the first three holes of the day but found himself well off the lead as overnight co-leader Rahm made the turn. But the American went to another level on the back nine, with birdies on 10 and 12 before a brilliant run of four-straight from 14. Scheffler ended nine-under 62 to sit at 19-under for the tournament.
He was forced to watch on as Tommy Fleetwood finished his round. Fleetwood had made five birdies and two bogeys on the front nine, before birdies on 11 and 12 had him primed for a tilt at gold. Fleetwood birdied 16 to share the lead before dropping a shot on 17. It all came down to the final hole, where Fleetwood needed a birdie to send it to a play-off for gold. But his approach shot on the difficult 18th went long, leaving him with a near-impossible 34-yard birdie attempt.
Fleetwood – with five top-10 finishes in his last ten majors – gave it his all but it went wide as he settled for par, with Scheffler celebrating on the driving range where he was preparing for a possible play-off.
Fleetwood finished with a five-under 66 for an 18-under overall.
Meanwhile, Spaniard Rahm birdied five of the first nine holes to make the turn with a three-shot lead. He stretched it to four with another birdie on ten. Then things began to unravel. He bogeyed 11 and 12. And on 15 – a hole where Rahm had gone eagle-birdie-birdie on the hole in his first three rounds – his Olympic dream collapsed in stunning fashion with a double bogey.
Suddenly he tumbled from the gold position to out of the medals entirely. He rebounded with a birdie on 16 – his seventh of the day – before dropping another shot on 17 and finishing with another bogey on the last. The disconsolate Spaniard finished in a tie for fifth with Rory McIlroy.
US golfing analyst Brandel Chamblee said on NBC: “I’m gonna put that down as one of the biggest collapses, chokes of the year. Right up there with Rory McIlroy at the U.S. Open.”
McIlroy had been firmly in the hunt before a double-bogey on 15 ended a run of five-straight birdies. He carded a five-under 66.
Matsuyama had four birdies on his first six holes and added two more on 10 and 12, but couldn’t keep the momentum going and challenge for gold. His bogey-free 65 was still enough for bronze, though would rue an unfortunate birdie putt on 18 which wheeled around the lip of the cup then went out. Had it fallen, it would have seen a play-off with Fleetwood for silver.
Defending Olympic champion Xander Schauffele, who started the day in a share of the lead with Rahm, began his round well with birdies on three and four. But three bogeys and a double on 15 – the same hole that burned Rahm and McIlroy – more than cancelled out his single other birdie in the round as he carded a two-over and finished in a tie for ninth along with Australia’s Jason Day.
Day birdied the second and third holes but couldn’t pick up crucial birdies from there on. Two more birdies on 12 and 14 saw him rise up the leaderboard before a messy finish with bogeys on 15 and 18 sandwiching a birdie on 17. He finished with a three-under 68.
‘INCREDIBLE OLYMPIC MOMENT’
Scheffler might’ve taken out the gold medal, but some of the highest praise he has received has been for his act involving the crestfallen Tom Kim.
Kim, from South Korea, had extra on the line in the final round with an Olympic medal exempting him from mandatory military service in his home country.
Kim slipped out of medal contention, finishing in eighth on 13-under, four shots behind Hideki Matsuyama in third.
As Scheffler finished off what would be his gold medal round, he was seen immediately comforting Kim who could do little to hide his devastation.
Golf presenter Jeff Eisenband described it as an “incredible Olympic moment”, while commentator Luke Elvy said Scheffler had shown “incredible humility”.
Kim was later seen shedding a tear in the scorers hut.
BIZARRE SCENES AS US STAR ‘DOESN’T EVEN TRY’
American hurdler Freddie Crittenden ran an utterly bizarre 110m hurdles heat, cruising down the course to finish almost five seconds behind his rivals. The 30-year-old, ranked fourth in the world and considered a strong medal chance, simply jogged down the track with no effort.
Gerard Whateley said in commentary on Nine: “What on earth happened at the start?”
Tamsyn Lewis-Manou said: “He’s just popped up and not even tried.”
“That’s perplexing,” Whateley replied.
It turns out that Crittenden was deliberately going slow to nurse an injury, backing himself to make it through to the semis via the repechage.
“It was an intentional choice,” Crittenden told NBC . “Everyone gets through to the repechage. … So I decided to just, not make an emotional choice, make a smart choice, give my body time to recover a little bit from being aggravated, lean on my medical doctors, lean on God, and just wait for the repechage round, come out here and try to kill it in the repechage round.”
It’s the first time we’ve seen an athlete at these Games deliberately take it easy in their heats and focus on the newly-introduced repechage.
MASSIVE BLOW FOR JAMAICA
Superstar Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson has withdrawn from the 200m mere minutes before her heat was set to begin.
Jackson, who owns the second-fastest women’s 200m time in history, was carrying an injury into the Paris Games and opted to pull out of the 100m to focus on the 200m.
Jackson is infamous for missing out on the semi-finals in Tokyo after starting her heat hot before slowing too early.
The two-time world champion’s withdrawal is another hammer blow for the Jamaican team after Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce pulled out of the 100m.
Jackson, 30, had described her decision to skip the 100m as a “good decision”.
“You have to do the best for your body and your mind and your soul. I’m OK with the decision.”
Jackson’s non-appearance in the heats was only evident by the late addition of “DNS” (Did Not Start) alongside her name on the official start sheet.
Jackson’s teammate Elaine Thompson-Herah, missing from Paris through injury, won both the 100m and 200m at the Tokyo Olympics.
LYLES HUNTS GOLD AFTER CONCERNING HEAT
US track star Noah Lyles will go for glory in the men’s 100m at the Stade de France on Sunday after a shock heat result added surprising jeopardy.
Lyles admitted to underestimating the “power of an Olympics” as he was left scrambling to eventually finish second in his heat on Saturday.
The American won treble sprint gold at the Budapest world championships last year and is desperate to transfer that to the Olympic stage.
“To be honest, I should have expected that knowing that this is the Olympics, but this is my first time in an Olympic 100m, so I didn’t, but that’s on me, I’m not going to let that happen,” he said.
Lykes said the 200m bronze he won at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games three years ago still “burned a hole in my chest”.
His bid for three – and potentially four – golds starts with some tough competition in the blue riband event.
There are semi-finals to negotiate before the final, the result of which will define Lyles’ week of competition in Paris.
Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh carries the weight of a nation’s hopes on her shoulders in the women’s high jump final – with all due respect to her teammate and fellow finalist Iryna Gerashchenko.
Mahuchikh admits there is more pressure on her, though, she says it is due to being the world record holder and not the expectations of her compatriots in beleaguered Ukraine.
The 22-year-old world champion seemed relaxed after qualifying and spoke about how important it will be to give Ukrainians some cheer.
She may be the hot favourite but Australians Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson – arch-rivals from school days – will be in the mix.
Olyslagers looks the most dangerous of the two as the silver medallist from Tokyo three years ago won world indoor gold earlier this year.
The 27-year-old showed she was in form by taking second behind Mahuchikh in Paris in July but her best of 2.01 metres paled in comparison to the new world record set that day of 2.10m.
One of the most hotly anticipated events of the Olympic athletics gets under way with 2021 gold medallist and world record-holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone opening the defence of her 400m hurdles crown.
The 24-year-old American arrives in Paris in blistering form after smashing her own world record at the US trials in June, clocking 50.65sec.
As well as her Olympic title, McLaughlin-Levrone will be seeking to keep a five-year unbeaten streak going. Her last defeat in the 400m hurdles came in the final of the 2019 World Championships in Doha, where she was pipped by compatriot Dalilah Muhammad.
McLaughlin-Levrone though will be wary of the threat posed by reigning world champion Femke Bol of the Netherlands.
Bol has also been in the form of her life ahead of the Olympics, clocking a personal best of 50.95sec last month.
All eyes are on Jamaica’s reigning world champion Shericka Jackson as she chases her first individual Olympic gold medal in the women’s 200m.
Jackson produced a scintillating run to claim World Championship gold in Budapest last summer, clocking 21.41sec – the second fastest time in history after the late Florence Griffith-Joyner’s world record of 21.34sec.
But the 30-year-old’s fitness remains shrouded in uncertainty after she pulled up towards the end of a race in Hungary three weeks ago.
Jackson has withdrawn from the 100m in Paris to concentrate on her preferred event.
The Jamaican’s biggest challenge is expected to come from Gabby Thomas of the United States, who warmed up for the Olympics with a stirring fightback to win the 200m at the recent London Diamond League meeting.
Like Jackson, Thomas is chasing her first individual gold medal after securing a bronze medal in the 200m in Tokyo.
In the 110m hurdles, American Grant Holloway begins his quest for the medal lacking from his extensive collection: Olympic gold.
The 26-year-old is a three-time world champion and the second-fastest man in history at the event with a personal best of 12.81sec.
But he was surprisingly beaten into silver at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games by Jamaican Hansle Parchment.
His fluid style is a joy to behold and Holloway, coming off a victory in the US trials in 12.86sec, the fourth fastest time in history, looks unbeatable.
