Andy Murray's wish for Djokovic to claim Olympic gold

Former world number one Andy Murray has expressed his desire to see Serbia’s legendary tennis star Novak Djokovic win the Olympic gold medal this year. The 37-year-old is regarded as the greatest player in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category in the Open era, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles.

Murray, who retired from professional tennis after his journey in the doubles category at the Paris Olympics came to an end after he and his partner Dan Evans lost in the quarterfinal, was recently quoted in a report in which he expressed his desire to see Djokovic win an Olympic gold this year.

The Glasgow-born star highlighted the importance of winning an Olympic gold medal for a player of Djokovic’s stature despite winning nearly everything on the tennis court. “It clearly means a lot to him,” he said. “When he plays for Serbia in Davis Cup, or the matches he played in the Olympic semifinals, you can see that side coming out from him. It would be great if he could make it.” Djokovic is going through a mixed season. He failed to qualify for a final of any event before Wimbledon 2024. He even suffered an injury during the French Open which forced him to withdraw from the mega-event just before the start of the quarterfinal against Casper Ruud.

The Belgrade-born star then underwent surgery, which cast doubts about his possibility of playing in events such as Wimbledon and Paris Olympics. The 37-year-old is participating in the singles category, where he has already booked his place in the semifinal after beating Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last eight in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 7-6. He will face Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, who booked his place in the last-four after beating Germany’s Alexander Zverev in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 7-5. It will be the eighth meeting between the two in professional tennis. In the previous seven meetings, it's Djokovic who clearly had an edge with six wins and suffered just one defeat.