History is on the line for both the players as they fight for the prestigious Gold Medal.
By Ateet Shrivastava | 11:00 AM EDT
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic / Clive Mason/GettyImages
Carlos Alcaraz handed a brutal beatdown to Felix Auger-Aliassime as he became the youngest men’s player to reach the Olympic singles final. Auger-Aliassime was playing some of his best tennis on clay this week but couldn’t manage more than two games against the French Open champion. He is now on a 12-match winning streak and has won 20 of his last 21 matches.
Alcaraz has been the best player by some distance in the last few months and is playing better and better each tournament. He is guaranteed to take a medal for Spain but the way he is playing he looks unstoppable and seems hungry for the Gold Medal. He knows what he can do.
When asked to give a message to Spanish fans, Alcaraz sounded incredibly confident and said: “To the Spaniards who watch me on TV, tell them I am going to put on a show in the final and that I am going to give them what they want: the Gold.” He’s been in the habit of playing big finals recently, so he can approach them with more excitement and less fear.
Novak Djokovic reaches new career milestone
With his semifinal win over Lorenzo Musetti, Novak Djokovic becomes the oldest men’s player to reach the Olympic singles final, opposite to Alcaraz. He has now reached the finals of every big event of tennis. All things considered it’s amazing for Novak to be in an Olympics final finally, especially after the knee surgery. Djokovic played so well and looked motivated to finally clear the semifinal hurdle. Falling into the ground at the end of the match, you can tell how much it means to him.
It means a lot to him to finally be able to provide his country with another medal, 16 years since he won a medal in 2008. He was tested physically and he moved fine and played pretty well except for a mini meltdown at the start of the second set where he donated two breaks of serves, perhaps this and the match with Nadal match were his best clay-court matches this year.
He is the underdog coming into the final and with a Silver Medal already confirmed, he can play freely and maybe that will bring out his best tennis. One thing is for sure, he will be optimistic about his chances.
Key points in the fight for the Gold Medal
Djokovic will have to play near-perfect solid tennis with few unforced errors and great serving and returning to have a shot. That combination is a nightmare to face. But he has not displayed that level all year so it will be a huge task. His movement and mentality to handle the pressure will be key for him. Generally, Djokovic eats pressure for breakfast but he has let it affect him in the past at the Olympics.
The Wimbledon final was a beat down the first two sets but Djokovic finally showed up in that third set and gave Alcaraz all sorts of problems but it was too late. He can not afford to make a slow start and lose the first set. He needs to start strongly like he did against Alcaraz in the French Open and Wimbledon 2023. Djokovic made a tactical blunder in their last match, going for too many net approaches and giving Alcaraz a target. He has to find the right balance and try to extract as many errors from Alcaraz as he can.
Alcaraz’s serve in the Wimbledon final was his best serving performance and he has carried that this week, getting broken only twice. If he can serve like that, he would be almost unbeatable. He has too much firepower and moves better than Djokovic these days. If Djokovic’s movement is not 100%, Alcaraz is the player on tour who can easily exploit that the most with his immense power off both wings and ability to hit drop-shot winners from anywhere on the court.
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Djokovic’s performance against Musetti will have no bearing against Alcaraz. Winners against Musetti can turn into winners against Djokovic when he is playing Alcaraz. He turns his defense into an offense like no other player. Djokovic is a master tactician and would have done his homework. He has rarely used the backhand down the line in his last two matches and might use it as a main weapon to surprise Alcaraz.
Both these players have reached the final without dropping a set and are worthy finalists. They are playing to create history and break records and the added pressure of playing for their country makes this match even bigger.
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