Podium positions will be determined this weekend in Paris. Which players will stand on top?
Men’s Singles
Novak Djokovic (SRB) 🇷🇸 vs. Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) 🇪🇸
Any meeting between the Serb and the Spaniard is special. But this one comes with a good deal of extra moutarde. Neither of these two has an Olympic gold medal in his trophy case, and both know that the chances to win one don’t come around often.
That’s especially true for the 37-year-old Djokovic, who has been trying, and failing, to bring home Olympic gold since 2008. At this point, he sees it as the capstone to his career. Alcaraz, 16 years younger, obviously has more time to do it, but that’s not how he has played in Paris. He has had the focus of a man who is on a mission to make it happen now.
Djokovic is the top seed, the living legend, and the man who may want this match more, but Alcaraz is the favorite for a few reasons. He’s coming off a Channel Slam at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He just beat Djokovic handily in the Wimbledon final. He has lifted himself into peak form this week, and looked unplayable in a 6-1, 6-1 semifinal win over Felix Auger-Aliassime on Friday. Djokovic, meanwhile, is still dealing with pain in his right knee.
The positive for Djokovic is that, whatever his physical issues may be, he has competed with a refuse-to-lose mentality in his last two matches. In the quarterfinals against Stefanos Tsitsipas, he hung on by a thread through the second set, and eventually won it. Against Lorenzo Musetti, Djokovic was an emotional wreck for much of the match, but at the end of each set he channeled those emotions in a winning direction.
Normally, Djokovic only lies down on the court in celebration when he wins a big final. This time he did it after winning a semifinal. That shows us how much clinching at least a silver medal means to him. But what will it mean for how he’ll perform in the gold-medal round? Does his celebration reveal that he has doubts about his chances against Alcaraz? Will knowing that he has a silver in his back pocket help him relax and play better? Or will it make him just a little less do-or-die against the Spaniard?
All will be revealed in one of the year’s biggest matches on Sunday. Winner: Alcaraz
