Novak Djokovic knelt on the clay of centre court and wept. The elusive trophy had been claimed. At 37-years-old, he was the Olympic champion in the men's singles tennis competition. The triumph for himself and Serbia came 16 years after winning bronze at the Beijing Olympics.
Djokovic claimed the prize with an intense 7-6, 7-6 victory over Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, the man who beat him in straight sets on 14 July to win the Wimbledon title for a second time at his expense.
But that was on grass in south-west London. On Court Philippe Chatrier at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Djokovic had the psychological advantage of a success last year in the semi-final of the French Open.
Billed as a clash of generations, that match fizzled out into a Djokovic stroll as the then 20-year-old Alcaraz suffered with cramps due to the pressure of entering a tournament as world number one and playing a crunch tie against legend of the sport.
Alcaraz vowed to learn from his four-set defeat. Two Wimbledon titles and a French Open crown suggest an upward curve.
Change
Fourteen months on from that French Open meeting, Djokovic and Alcaraz engaged in the gladitoral combat predicted for that sultry afternoon in June 2023.
The augurs came early. It took them 25 minutes to reach 2-2 in the first set.
Just over an hour later, they were in a tiebreak after Alcaraz saved a set point on his way to levelling at 6-6.
They changed ends at 3-3 in the shoot-out. But Djokovic was steadier. He clocked up the next four points to pocket the first set after one hour and 33 minutes.
"I had a hungry Novak in front of me," said Alcaraz. "He played at an impressive level. He did not let me take the chances I had. I gave everything I had on the court."
Predictably the match wended its way to another shoot-out. And Djokovic started it with a thunderous forehand cross court winner.
Djokovic unloaded a similar bludgeon to lead 3-2. And Alcaraz had no more answers.
Record
Djokovic, who has won a record 24 Grand Slam tournaments, moved inexorably towards his grail and concluded the quest with a forehand winner down the line.
"When I saw that last forehand pass him, the intensity of the emotions that I felt at that moment was just something I never felt on the tennis court before," said Djokovic.
"The fact that I'm 37, I don't know how many more chances I would have had to win gold," he added.
"I'm super thrilled that I managed to do it here in a way that I did it against a guy who is the best in the world at the moment."
It was Serbia's second gold medal of the Paris Games after their win in the mixed team air pistol.
"Representing my country has been always the greatest priority, an honour for me, whether it's Olympic Games or Davis Cup or anywhere that I can carry proudly the Serbian flag," added Djokovic.
"This is something that really drives me and motivates me like nothing else."
