Novak Djokovic will face Carlos Alcaraz at the Olympics in a rematch of their recent Wimbledon final.
Novak Djokovic made an unusual declaration ahead of the gold medal match at the Olympics as he claimed his opponent Carlos Alcaraz the favourite.
Alcaraz won back-to-back Grand Slams at the French Open and Wimbledon, beating the Serb in the final of the latter event.
Novak Djokovic branded Carlos Alcaraz the current best player in the world
Even though Djokovic believes the 21-year-old has the edge in the Paris 2024 Games, he also warned Alcaraz that he was feeling a lot more confident than he did three weeks ago in London.
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Two decades into his career, Djokovic has broken new ground for the first time, reaching the final of the Olympic Games. The world No. 2 beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-2 on Friday night to set up a rematch with Alcaraz. Before beating Musetti, he had a 0-3 record in Olympics semi-finals.
But he will finally have the chance to fight for the one accolade that has always evaded him – a gold medal. Sunday’s duel with Alcaraz comes exactly three weeks after the Spaniard toppled him in straight sets at Wimbledon to win his fourth Grand Slam title.
And Djokovic is putting the pressure on his opponent. “I don’t consider myself a favourite on Sunday because Alcaraz has proven [he is] the best player in the world at the moment,” the top seed at the Olympics said.
Carlos Alcaraz awaits in the gold medal match
“He won Roland Garros, he won Wimbledon, beat me in the finals quite comfortable there, reached the finals [here] without dropping a set. I mean I did too but I think the way he is playing, he’s definitely a favourite.”
Although Djokovic was happy to label Alcaraz a favourite, he is still well up for the fight and believes he will fare a lot better than he did three weeks ago. He continued: “But it’s Olympics, it’s really anybody’s game I think. We haven’t faced each other on clay in a while, I think the only time we played here was last year’s semi-final of Roland Garros.
“I feel like I’m a different player than I was in Wimbledon, the way I move, the way I’m striking the ball. Not to take anything away from his win in Wimbledon finals, he was dominating and deservedly a winner, but I feel more confident about myself and my chances in the finals.”
Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic in the recent Wimbledon final
Whatever happens, it will be an opportunity for both men – Djokovic has never reached an Olympics final and Alcaraz is competing in his maiden Games. The 37-year-old is celebrating the fact that he managed to achieve another first in his glittering career but he’s still not satisfied with silver.
“[It’s a] huge relief because I never got to the Olympics finals even though I played really well I thought at Olympic Games, three out of four Olympic Games I played, I played semis, won bronze from the first one in Beijing but after that I kind of failed to overcome that hurdle,” he explained.
“So just to secure a higher medal for the first time, for my country, whatever happens on Sunday is a huge obviously pride and honour and happiness and that’s why I celebrated the way I did and I still feel like I need to celebrate because it’s a big success of course. I am going to go on for gold on Sunday, there is no doubt about it, but this is a big deal.”
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