Finally Olympic gold for Novak Djokovic

At his fifth Olympic Games, he finally succeeded. Novak Djokovic won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics by defeating his rival Carlos Alcaraz in the final. In a long match, which ended 7-6/7-6 in the Serb's favor, Djokovic was sharpest in the key moments. As a result, the tennis legend also filled the last gap in his career. In the women's tournament, victory surprisingly went to Qinwen Zheng. The Chinese, who had eliminated Polish favorite Iga Światek on her way to the final, defeated Donna Vekic 6-2/6-3 in the final of the Olympic tennis tournament.

How did the Dutch fare at the Olympic Games in Paris?

Despite the many withdrawals, there were naturally plenty of big names on the entry list in Paris. The Netherlands, with Robin Haase, Tallon Griekspoor, and Arantxa Rus, were represented at Roland Garros with three aces in the singles tournament. While Haase lost in his first round to Austrian Sebastian Ofner, our other two compatriots did win their first matches at the 2024 Olympic Games. Griekspoor defeated Petros Tsitsipas – his brother – in straight sets, while Rus defeated Olivia Gadecki. Unfortunately, the two remaining Dutch players in Olympic tennis were finished a round later. Both players faced a player who would eventually reach the final: Rus lost to Zheng, while Griekspoor was defeated by Alcaraz.

Djokovic grants Nadal only five games

The second round of the men's tournament immediately brought a clash that many tennis fans had been eagerly anticipating. Djokovic took on Rafael Nadal. It proved to be a one-way street, especially in the first set, as Djokovic defeated his old rival 6-1/6-4. The second rounds of both the men's and women's Olympic tennis tournaments saw fairly predictable results, but the third round was a different story. Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Daniil Medvedev , Anna Karolina Schmiedlova defeated Roland Garros finalist Jasmine Paolini, and Coco Gauff was also surprisingly eliminated. The American couldn't live up to her favorite role against Vekic and lost in straight sets: 7-6/6-2.

The quarterfinals in Paris featured several exciting matches. Djokovic defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas, Auger-Aliassime showed his fine form with a strong clay-court victory over Casper Ruud, Alcaraz defeated Tommy Paul in straight sets, and Lorenzo Musetti dethroned Alexander Zverev (7-5/7-5). In the women's tournament, Schmiedlova once again demonstrated her giant-killing prowess by defeating newly crowned Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova. Three other impressive three-setters were also played, with Vekic, Swiatek, and Zheng emerging victorious against Marta Kostyuk, Danielle Collins, and Angelique Kerber, respectively.

Zheng pulls off a stunner in the semi-final against Swiatek

As exciting as some quarterfinals were at the Olympic Games, some semifinals in Paris flew by. Alcaraz easily dispatched Auger-Aliassime (6-1/6-1), and Djokovic was much stronger than Musetti: 6-4/6-2. In the women's tournament, both semifinals were also settled in straight sets. Vekic convincingly defeated Schmiedlova 6-4/6-0, and shortly before that, Zheng pulled off perhaps the biggest upset in Olympic tennis.

The Chinese player faced Swiatek in her semifinal, who was considered the overwhelming favorite to win in Paris. Swiatek has long been the world number one and has won four Roland Garros titles in six appearances, but she surprisingly lost to her Chinese opponent: 6-2/7-5. This meant Zheng would face Vekic in the final, while Djokovic and Alcaraz played each other in the men's final.

Gold for Zheng and Djokovic

In the women's and men's tournaments, the bronze medals went to Swiatek and Musetti respectively, after which the tennis finals at the 2024 Olympic Games were played. In the women's event, it was quickly clear that Zheng would take the gold. The Chinese won the first set very easily and faced no trouble in the second set either: 6-2/6-3. As expected, the men's event was much more exciting. Both Djokovic and Alcaraz were particularly strong on their own serve, forcing both sets to be decided by a tiebreak. In both tiebreaks, Djokovic proved to be the stronger player in the decisive moments, and thus the Serb, at 37 years old (!), still managed to win his much-desired gold medal in tennis at the Olympic Games.

Olympic Games men's singles medals tennis:
Gold : Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
Silver : Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
Bronze : Lorenzo Musetti (Italy)

Olympic Games women's singles medals tennis:
Gold : Qinwen Zheng (China)
Silver : Donna Vekic (Croatia)
Bronze : Iga Swiatek (Poland)

Olympic Games tennis men's doubles medals:
Gold : Matthew Ebden and John Peers (Australia)
Silver : Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek (United States)
Bronze : Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul (United States)

Women's doubles medals at the Olympic Games tennis:
Gold : Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani (Italy)
Silver : Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider (World)
Bronze : Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo (Spain)

Olympic Games tennis mixed doubles medals:
Gold : Tomas Machac and Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic)
Silver : Zhizhen Zhang and Xinyu Wang (China)
Bronze : Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski (Canada)