The Olympics remained a gap that Novak Djokovic was unable to bridge, despite the fact that his reign of dominance extended to every other major tournament in the globe. He won every grand slam championship, every Masters 1000 event, and more weeks at No. 1 than any other player in the history of the sport. His unwavering quest for a gold medal has brought him some of the most agonising experiences of his professional life, as he has had to overcome setbacks that could have easily destroyed him.

His success over the past 16 years has been fuelled by his unmatched resilience—his capacity to bounce back, put himself under pressure again, and ultimately find a way through. Few victories in his career have been simple.

Djokovic, 37, knew that this was likely his last realistic chance to compete at the Olympics, so he didn’t let it pass him by. In two fierce, excellent sets, he defeated Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) to finally win the gold medal. Without dropping a set, he became the oldest tennis player to win an Olympic gold medal in singles.

Previously, Djokovic had declared that carrying the Serbian flag during the London 2012 opening ceremony was the proudest moment of his career. However, on Sunday, he remarked, “This kind of supersedes everything that I imagined, hoped, that I could experience and that I could feel.”

He tore his meniscus during his French Open fourth-round match on this exact same court exactly two months ago, and a day later he had surgery. Despite his incredible comeback run to the Wimbledon final, Alcaraz ultimately defeated him. He was the obvious underdog going into the Olympic final after that loss.

It was evident from the start that Djokovic’s tenure on Court Philippe-Chatrier would be distinct. With the intention of taking the ball early and buying the Spaniard some time, he launched himself off the blocks, hitting the ball with depth and penetration. The intensity was at an all-time high as Alcaraz quickly settled into a groove, smashing forehands and frustrating Djokovic with his amazing defending. Djokovic kept up his excellent serve, made clever net excursions to keep Alcaraz guessing, and displayed flawless shot selection.

As Alcaraz’s error total increased during the subsequent tie-break, Djokovic broke through at 3-3 with an amazing angled forehand return winner. He never looked back, hitting a drop volley winner at full stretch to cap off a masterful 92-minute set.

It would have made sense for Djokovic to ease off after such a challenging set, but he didn’t, giving his opponent an early break point on the serve in set two. However, Alcaraz kept up with him throughout the set, and they eventually came to another tie-break. Djokovic threw himself at every final ball and attacked his forehand without hesitation because the gold medal was so close. He played a brilliant tie-break in the closing moments to complete an incredible victory, showing how desperate he was to win.

“I don’t think I’ve ever played on such a high level, attentively for three hours, only two sets, maybe a few times in my life,” he remarked.

Djokovic, having greeted his defeated opponent with great affection at the net, fell to the ground near the service line, sobbing with relief and delight, his hands trembling. After a while he went back to his seat and sobbed into his towel. Then, he climbed into the crowd, holding a Serbian flag, and sobbed on his family’s and his teammates’ shoulders. Alcaraz had to end his interview with Eurosport because he started crying too, while Djokovic was tearing up as he celebrated. Alcaraz later admitted that the reason he was crying was because he thought his loss had “let all the Spanish people down.” He took a moment to collect himself before expressing his pride following an amazing week in his career. “I believe I brought them pride. I’m happy of the way I portrayed my flag and I helped them believe what I did.

Djokovic’s victory is remarkable for a variety of reasons. He had made four appearances at the Olympics before this year, reaching the semi-finals on three of them, all of which ended in heartbreaking defeats. In the pivotal moments of these events, he had never been able to play with the normal clarity since his Olympic dreams were so lofty.

In addition to his recent injury, this season has been really challenging for him and he hasn’t been able to win a title all year. Naturally, he would have wondered if he had reached a turning point in his life, or if ageing was finally catching up to him. Rather, one of his biggest victories has come from his perseverance.

“After weighing all the factors, I think this is the biggest sporting achievement of my career,” he remarked.