Novak Djokovic: "Biggest achievement in my career" to win gold at Paris 2024｜Olympics｜Tennis｜Alcaraz

You know, I was saying that representing my country has been always a greatest priority and honor for me, whether it's Olympic Games or Davis Cup or anywhere that I can carry proudly the Serbian flag is something that really drives me and motivates me like nothing else. And the fact that I won the bronze in the first Olympic Games and ever since then failed to win the medal and, you know, played three out of four Olympic Games in semi-finals and couldn't overcome that obstacle. And then now at age 37, you know, with a 21-year-old that is probably the best player in the world right now, winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back and playing incredible tennis. Just when I take everything in consideration, this probably is biggest sporting success I've ever had in my career. Well, you know, this year has been a little bit strange for me, obviously, not winning a title after many years of at least winning one title up to the kind of mid-season section of the calendar. But, you know, I was saying that Grand Slams and Olympic Games are the biggest goal for this season and particularly Olympic Games, knowing that could be my last chance and my last swing at the gold medal. So I did everything I possibly can to prepare myself for this period of Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Olympic Games in the best possible way to raise form when it needs to be raised and, yeah, basically be at the peak of my abilities. Then, you know, obviously the injury that occurred here in Roland Garros sidetracked me a little bit, but, you know, I still managed to play Wimbledon and wasn't maybe expecting so much from that tournament, but I played finals, which was a big success. I was dominated in the finals by Alcárez, who was a far better player. But then coming into these Olympic Games, I said that I feel like I'm a different player comparing to the player I was in Wimbledon. When I qualified for the finals, I felt a big relief because that's the hurdle I wasn't able to surpass in the past. And I did celebrate like I won the tournament, but you know, of course I wanted gold and I knew that it's going to take the highest mountain to climb at the moment, probably the highest one, playing Alcárez, who is in incredible form. I think the fact that I lost as easy as I did against him in the finals of Wimbledon actually kind of worked in my favor because I knew that I could not preferably do worse than that. The way I played and the way I felt against him on the court, so I knew that it's going to be a different match. I just felt it. Yes and no. I mean, yes, it's complete because I completed all the achievements with this gold medal, but no, because I love this sport. I don't play it only to win the tournament. I play it because I really love competition. I love the drive every day, every week of training my body, perfecting my game, improving myself still at this age. This sport has given me so much in my life. I mean, I try to give back to the sport with dedication primarily and the sacrifice that I put on the court every single day when nobody's watching. I do it as hard as any young player out there in the world right now. I promise you that I do it as hard and maybe even harder than anybody else. These kind of successes are not coincidences. They come as a result of incredible effort from my side and, of course, people who are around me. I don't know about the future, to be honest. I really want to be in the present moment to celebrate worked very hard, sacrificed a lot to be in this moment. It was a long journey, many, many years of dreaming to be holding the gold medal. So now it's about happiness, joy and celebration.