Viktor Troicky recently suggested that an Olympic gold medal doesn’t define Novak Djokovic’s greatness. Djokovic is in contention at the 2024 Paris Olympics men’s singles event.

He defeated Germany’s Dominik Koepfer 7-5, 6-3 on Wednesday, July 31, to book his berth in the quarterfinals of the singles competition. He is set to take on Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece next.

It is notably the Serb’s fourth campaign at the Games. He won the singles bronze in his debut appearance in Beijing (2008) but couldn’t secure a ribbon in London (2012), Rio (2016), and Tokyo (2021).

Viktor Troicki (L) and Novak Djokovic (Images: Getty)

Hence, after having amassed the most Grand Slam titles, 24, in the Open Era, and recorded 428 weeks as the World No. 1, he remains without the Olympic gold.

Viktor Troicki, who is with Djokovic in Paris as Serbia’s tennis team captain, recently sat down for a chat with CLAY and claimed his fellow Serb has no more boxes to tick to be considered a tennis great.

“He doesn’t have anything to prove anymore. He’s done it all. In tennis we all know the peak of the mountain are Grand Slams, being number one, that’s something in tennis, like what the World Cup or the Champions League is in football,” Troicki said.

The former pro noted that winning Grand Slams matters more in tennis than success at the quadrennial event. He said:

“For tennis we can talk about that Olympics it’s honour, it’s biggest sporting event for sure. But definitely people remember more the Grand Slams winners than gold medalist in Olympics.”

“In other sports it’s different. So for me, even if he wins or he doesn’t, he will still be the best ever. If he proves it, okay, of course he will accomplish his dream and definitely by being a gold medalist he would get another relief, I guess.”

“We’re not talking about the golden dream; Novak Djokovic’s focused on tomorrow’s opponent” – Viktor Troicki


Viktor Troicki (L) with Novak Djokovic. (Getty)

In the same interview with CLAY, Viktor Troicki denied having discussions with Novak Djokovic about winning the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics men’s singles event. Upon being asked about the golden dream by the host, Troicki replied:

“We’re not talking about it [the golden dream]. We go match by match. And this is why I’m not saying anything about winning the gold, at the moment we’re going step by step.

“He’s focused on tomorrow’s opponent. That’s the most important. This is how it should be and we’ll see how it ends up.”

Notably, if we Novak Djokovic wins the gold medal in Paris, he will join the likes of Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Steffi Graf, and Andre Agassi to have completed the Career Golden Slam, i.e., winning all four Grand Slams and the Olympic gold medal.