AFP – Novak Djokovic insists Carlos Alcaraz will be the “favourite” for Olympic gold today in the latest installment of tennis’s generational power grab.
At 37, Djokovic would be the oldest Olympic tennis singles champion since the sport returned to the Games at Seoul in 1988.
At 21, Alcaraz would be the youngest of all time.
A win for the Serb would be his first gold medal at the fifth attempt and represent a significant upgrade on the bronze he won at Beijing in 2008. Victory would also allow Djokovic to become only the fifth player to complete the Golden Slam of all four majors plus an Olympic title.
Only Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Steffi Graf can make similar boasts.
However, Djokovic goes into today’s high-profile clash still bruised by being swept off court by Alcaraz in a one-sided Wimbledon final just three weeks ago.
“I don’t consider myself a favourite because Alcaraz has proven he’s the best player in the world,” said Djokovic pointing to the Spaniard’s rare achievement of winning the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back.
“He won Roland Garros, he won Wimbledon and beat me in the final quite comfortably there.”
Despite his caution, Djokovic is nothing if not fired up for his seventh career clash against the Spanish crowd-pleaser.
In his stormy semi-final win over Lorenzo Musetti, he was warned for swearing and
screamed at his support team watching nervously on Court Philippe Chatrier.
He is acutely aware that Paris 2024 is his last chance to finally capture an elusive gold.
“I was thinking about all the semi-finals that I lost in the Olympic Games and that’s why I was very tense on the court. I was very nervous, a lot of emotions.”
Djokovic and Alcaraz have made the final without dropping a set while the Serb appeared to have no adverse reaction to aggravating his right knee injury during a last-eight win against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
He also believes he’s a “different player” to the one beaten so badly at Wimbledon.
“In the way I move, the way I’m striking the ball,” explained Djokovic, who has won three of his 24 Grand Slam titles in Paris.
“Not to take anything away from him winning the Wimbledon final, he was dominating and deservedly a winner, but I feel more confident about myself and my chances in the final.”
The two men have met twice on clay with Alcaraz on top in their first meeting in Madrid in 2022 while Djokovic prevailed in the French Open semi-finals last year.
Alcaraz suffered body cramps in that loss, a factor he attributed to the stress of facing Djokovic.
Alcaraz is the fourth Spanish man to reach the Olympic men’s final after Jordi Arrese at Barcelona in 1992, Sergi Bruguera in Atlanta four years later and Nadal who won gold at Beijing in 2008.
