Serbia’s legendary tennis star
Novak Djokovic has stated
that winning a Olympic gold medal is the ‘highlight’ of his career. 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.
Djokovic has gone through a mixed campaign but despite that,
he managed to complete the trophy cabinet after finally winning the Olympics
gold medal. He defeated Spain’s young tennis sensation Carlos Alcaraz in the
final in the singles category with a score of 7-6, 7-6.
The Belgrade-born star was recently quoted in a report where
he stated that winning an Olympic gold medal was not only the highlight of the
season but also the highlight of his career. “The Olympic gold medal, I think
it’s an obvious one,” he said. “Definitely a highlight of this season and not
just this season, but probably the highlight of my career.”
Despite winning the only thing that was left from his trophy
cabinet, Djokovic’s season cannot be classified as a success. For the first
time in seven years, the former world number one finished the season without
winning a single Grand Slam. His most recent appearance in a major tournament
was in the US Open, where he was knocked out after losing in the third round to
Australia’s Alexei Popyrin with a score of 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Djokovic’s best appearance this season in a Grand Slam came
at Wimbledon, where he lost in the final to Alcaraz in straight sets with a
score of 6-2, 6-2, 7-6. Other than that, he also played in the semifinal of the
Australian Open, where he lost to current world number one Italy’s Jannik Sinner
with a score of 6-1, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3. In the French Open, Djokovic was forced to withdraw
just before the start of the quarterfinal against Norway’s Casper Ruud after
suffering a knee injury.