ANALYSIS: Sharing the limelight: an overview of overperformers and underperformers Men at Paris Olympics

The Paris Olympics concluded on Sunday, August 4th, giving us an opportunity to look back at the event and see which players underperformed and which players overperformed relative to expectations.

We are going to look at the winners and losers of the men's side of the Paris Olympics. We saw plenty of exciting tennis with pretty fascinating endings, so let's start with the winners, shall we? The winners are ultimately those whom we remember, and Novak Djokovic has primarily marked this year's Olympics.

Winners

Novak Djokovic

The undisputed champion of the Paris Olympics is Novak Djokovic, who clinched the elusive gold medal he's been relentlessly pursuing since his debut in 2008. This historic win not only solidifies his status as the greatest tennis player of all time but also marks a significant milestone in his illustrious career.

Novak Djokovic win Olympic Games 2024

Djokovic had a ridiculously strong claim to that even before the Olympics with 24 Grand Slams, but winning the gold medal makes it so that he's basically now won everything you can win in tennis. Doing it against the undisputed best player in the world, Carlos Alcaraz, on a surface that likely suits him better while being 16 years older is just incredible. It's impossible to undermine, and it crowns him as the greatest tennis player who has ever lived. That's why he's by far the biggest winner on the men's side.

Lorenzo Musetti

Another player who leaves Paris as a winner is Lorenzo Musetti because the Italian has officially proven himself to be one of the better players in the world. He hasn't done it for a very long time, but you can't really ignore how he's played in the past month. A semi-final loss to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, followed by an ATP Final in Umag, and then another semi-final loss to Djokovic at the Olympics is a run like he's never had before. He capped it off by winning the Bronze Medal, which is a huge achievement for a player whose future seemed uncertain just a few months ago. He's played really well this year, and this run in Paris only confirms that and confirms him as a player to watch in the coming months.

Tommy Paul

Tommy Paul is another player who was able to snatch a medal at the Paris Olympics, even though his came in the doubles. The American's win in Paris was mostly due to beating his own demons of inconsistency. For much of his career, Paul was a very good player who failed to find any consistency in his game.

Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz Olympic Games 2024

He's been able to do so in recent months, and Paris was just a continuation of that. He played fairly well on the clay to make the quarter-final, where he unfortunately ran into Carlos Alcaraz. Still, he won a Bronze Medal in the doubles with Taylor Fritz, so overall, it was a really good experience for him. Being able to play some more consistent tennis is certainly the most important thing, as he can now build upon that and continue his rise as the top player in the US.

Felix Auger-Aliassime

Felix Auger-Aliassime's win at this year's Olympics is a testament to the unpredictability of sports. The Canadian put together a remarkable event when nobody saw it coming. His performance, though not resulting in a medal, was a strong showing. This unexpected success gives hope for his future performances and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats for his upcoming events.

He got pretty close to doing so at the Olympics and only narrowly missed out on a medal as Lorenzo Musetti beat him in three sets for the Bronze medal. Still, it's overall a very good outing for him, especially since nobody saw it coming, and he can now use this as a basis to build for the rest of the year. He's gonna have a few events in the US where he could do some damage, and he's always been a really solid indoor player, and we're heading toward that part of the year.

Rafael Nadal

Finally, we have to acknowledge Rafael Nadal as a winner, not for his performance, but for his presence. While he might not be at his best level, and it's uncertain if he'll ever reach that level again, his participation at the Olympics was a huge honour. Despite not making it to the medal rounds, his presence was a win for the sport and a testament to his enduring contribution to tennis.

He didn't embarrass himself because he was beaten in the singles by Novak Djokovic, while in the doubles, he nearly made the medal rounds. Overall, it was just a positive experience for the legend who got another chance to play on Philippe Chatrier, which is a blessing because it might just be the final time he did so.

Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz Olympic Games 2024

Losers

When it comes to the losers, there are many players we can mention because quite a few failed to do what they hoped to do. Players like Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev played well at the event, but they didn't do what they had hoped to do, so let's break it down.

Carlos Alcaraz

Alcaraz is the main loser of these Olympics, which is mostly because he was expected to win it. He didn't play bad; he won the silver medal, but he failed to win gold, which many pencilled in for him. Doing so when you have Novak Djokovic in the draw was likely a mistake, but everything lined up so perfectly for him, and he simply couldn't deliver when it mattered the most.

It's unfortunate, but it makes him the biggest loser because he was the overwhelming favourite to win gold, and failing to do so is a failure. No two ways about it.

Alexander Zverev

Another player who talked a big game but failed to deliver is Alexander Zverev. This was a bit surprising overall because many expected him to at least win a medal. Zverev was one of the most consistent performers at Roland Garros in years past and played in the final this year.

With results like that, the German was, of course, expected to do really well at the event, but unfortunately, he was dealing with some physical problems. After getting beaten, the German admitted that he felt poorly the entire week, and that's unfortunate. If he had been better physically, he might have done better, but the defending champion from the last Olympics went medal-less this year.

Casper Ruud

Another player who prioritised the Olympic Games this year is Caper Ruud, a noted clay specialist who has had excellent results in Paris over the years. The Norwegian was certainly expected to be in the mix for some medals in Paris, but he failed as he was beaten by Felix Auger-Aliassime surprisingly.

To be fair, the Canadian is a bad matchup for him because he bested him earlier this year at the Madrid Open on clay, so clearly, there is something problematic there. It's unfortunate because Ruud's best chance at a medal was likely this year, though the future might give him more chances. Overall, it was a rather disappointing experience.

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas is certainly another player who can be considered a loser because he's a deeply patriotic guy who wants to make tennis great again in Greece, and winning a medal could certainly do that. He played singles, doubles, and mixed doubles, but he failed to really achieve anything in any of those.

It's disappointing because he does play great tennis on clay and has been fairly decent in Paris over the years. He stood in the final once but it didn't really click this year. We have to be fair and mention that he was really good in singles, though, unfortunately, without anybody else, he couldn't overcome Novak Djokovic.

Stefanos Tsitsipas Olympic Games 2024

Jannik Sinner

Another Paris loser is Jannik Sinner, but this is a bit of a different take. He didn't play in Paris, so his loss was mostly just missing out on the Olympics. If he had played, the form he's demonstrated this year would probably have seen him in contention for the medals, but unfortunately, disaster struck, and he was ultimately forced to withdraw from the event.

It was unfortunate because it was a really good chance for him to get a medal but there will be more chances for him in the future, and he'll surely get one.

So that's it. Those are the winners and losers from this year's Olympics. It was a pretty interesting event, with some rather interesting developments, but for the most part, Novak Djokovic walking away with the gold surprised many but it shouldn't. It just proved that he's still one of the best players in the world.