Novak Djokovic becomes first man to achieve unique Olympic feat as he matches Serena Williams for overall singles record
Olympic gold medallists: Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams
Novak Djokovic has become the first man in the Open Era to win gold at the Olympics without dropping a set after defeating Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets in the Paris 2024 final.
The tennis great booked his place in the gold medal match at Roland Garros by beating Matthew Ebden 6-0, 6-1, Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-4, Dominik Koepfer 7-5, 6-3, Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) and Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-2.
On the back of beating those five players without dropping a set, he had to avoid going the distance against Alcaraz to join Serena Williams as the only players to win Olympic singles gold without a set.
And he defeated his Spanish rival 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-2) in just under three hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier to achieve the rare feat.
Djokovic also notched up several other records as he became the oldest player to win gold at the Olympics as he was 37 years and 76 days at the time of the final while he became the fifth player to complete a career Golden Slam.
Back in 2012, Williams defeated Jelena Jankovic, Urzula Radwańska, Vera Zvonareva, Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova to win gold at the London Games.
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The feat has been achieved three times in the doubles with Serena Williams doubling up at the 2012 London Olympics as she teamed up with sister Venus to win the women’s doubles.
The Americans defeated Simona Halep and Sorana Cîrstea of Romania in the first round and followed it up with a win over Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki of Germany. Second seeds Sara Errani and Roberto Vinci were dispatched in the quarter-finals before they beat Russian pair Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova in the semi-finals.
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Venus and Serena defeated Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic in teh gold medal match.
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Four years later the Russian duo of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina emulated the feat at the Rio Games as they beat the Swiss part of Timea Bacsinszky and Martina Hingis 6-4, 6-4 in the final.
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But the first players to win Olympic gold without dropping a set were the American pair of Gigi Fernandez and Mary Joe Fernandez as they did it at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
The top-seeded pair beat Jana Novotna and Jana Novotná and Helena Suková from the Czech Republic 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 in the final.
The Americans had a bye in the first round and then beat French duo Mary Pierce and Natalie Tauziat before getting the better of Great Britain’s Valda Lake and Clara Wood in the quarter-final and Manon Bollegraf and Brenda Schultz-McCarthy in the semi-final.
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