Djokovic and Alcaraz meet in blockbuster tennis final

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will meet for the men’s tennis singles gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Sunday in the latest installment of a fascinating old-vs.-young rivalry that included a matchup in the Wimbledon final three weeks ago.

Alcaraz won that one - “Quite comfortably,” Djokovic acknowledged - just like he did when they played each other for last year’s trophy at the All England Club.

When Alcaraz’s semifinal in Paris ended Friday afternoon - before Djokovic played in his later semifinal that night - the 21-year-old Spaniard was asked what it might be like to possibly take on the 37-year-old Serbian again. “Hopefully,” Alcaraz said with a chuckle, “the same as Wimbledon.”

Djokovic is the oldest man in an Olympic tennis singles final; Alcaraz is the youngest.

Djokovic is considered by many to be the greatest men’s tennis player in history, a stance bolstered by statistics such as his 24 Grand Slam titles (more than any other man) and his 400-plus weeks spent at No. 1 in the rankings (more than any man or woman).

There is basically just one thing missing from his resume: an Olympic gold. Before beating Lorenzo Musetti in Paris on Friday, Djokovic had been 0-3 in Summer Games semifinals, losing to the eventual champion each time - Rafael Nadal in Beijing, Andy Murray in London, Alexander Zverev in Tokyo.

Djokovic left the 2008 Olympics with a bronze, but he really wanted to improve on that now.

“I know,” Musetti said, “how much it means for (him) to win a gold.”

Alcaraz is the best thing going right now in the sport, having added his recent Wimbledon triumph to the one that came in June at the French Open, which is contested annually at Roland Garros, the clay-court facility being used for the Paris Games’ tennis competition.

Agencies