Preview 2024 Paris Olympic Games Men's Final as Novak Djokovic faces Carlos Alcaraz in ultimate showdown

After days of battling, Carlos Alcaraz will face Novak Djokovic in the Paris Olympics final. This is an amazing matchup with lots of different scenarios so let's see whether the Serbian learned anything from the recent Wimbledon showdown.

Unlike the women's side of the sport, where we saw quite a few surprises and a final that nobody saw coming, the men's side played out almost exactly as most people assumed it would. On one side of the draw, we got the top favourite, Carlos Alcaraz, who showed immense resilience, steamrolling all of his opposition comfortably to make the final. On the other side, we saw Novak Djokovic play some of his best tennis this year, a testament to his greatness doing the same.

It's a showdown between two of the best players at this event and likely two of the best in the world at this time. This is not just a final, it's a battle for supremacy. It's the best possible final with the most exciting matchup on a surface, which will make it even better, so let's see which of these players is more likely to win.

If there was any doubt whether Novak Djokovic could still be competitive against some of the best players in the world, then the past two months kind of proved that he can. After finding some form at Roland Garros, Djokovic proved on the grass that he's still one of the best players in the world. Making the Wimbledon final after knee surgery is a huge achievement, and although the whole endeavour ended in a loss, it was the sort of confidence booster Novak Djokovic needed ahead of the Paris Olympics, a tournament he has set his sights on for a long time.

Returning to these courts after injuring his knee here was always going to be somewhat emotional and complicated. The Serbian handled that part marvellously and generally just played excellent tennis to make the final. There were complex matches and challenging moments, but he was able to pull himself through all of that to give himself a chance to achieve something he'd never done—win a gold medal.

Motivation is very high, as Djokovic admitted more than once this year that the Olympics are his main goal. It's his dream to win that medal for his country, which doesn't have too many gold medals, and not having done it so far is hugely regrettable. It won't be easy because he's facing the toughest possible opponent for the honour, but he will certainly try.

These past few weeks have shown us that his struggles earlier this year, while real, were a bit overblown, and he's far from not being competitive. He might not be clearly above everyone else, but he's certainly not done yet. This run here proved that and winning gold would only hammer down the point.

While Djokovic's run to the final was impressive, Carlos Alcaraz's ability to do so a few times in recent months has been downright amazing. The Spaniard saw the tennis news cycle adopt Jannik Sinner as their new darling after the Italian won the Australian Open and continued playing well. He himself struggled on the clay in South America and picked up an injury, which left many unsure of where things would go.

He would win Indian Wells to remind us that he's still there but also experience more injury woes during the clay season, missing most of it. Things would click at Roland Garros, where Alcaraz just found a really good rhythm and played out of his mind. Complicated matchups with Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev were huge for his confidence, as he struggled in both of those but still ended up winning.

The end result of all of that was him winning his third Grand Slam trophy in Paris, which unlocked things for him. It was the big trophy he had been waiting on for a while now, and it came after an exhausting run during which he was tested many times. The boost in confidence was significant and the Wimbledon final best showed it.

Despite a somewhat lacklustre prep for Wimbledon and some really complicated matchups in the earlier rounds, Alcaraz came into the Wimbledon final with supreme confidence. He's beaten Djokovic in the final before, but he was still facing one of the best grass players in history. The coldness in how he spoke about winning the trophy was staggering. He knew he would win, and while many were puzzled, the answer came early in the match. Alcaraz just took it to the Serbian, overpowering him easily at the start, and he never let it go.

A somewhat complicated finish in the 3rd set overshadowed just how one-sided this final was because Alcaraz absolutely crushed him, and he knew he would. That sort of confidence has also been present in Paris, as he cruised through the draw and, more importantly, played better with every match. After his semi-final win, he declared that he was winning the gold medal, which is the same thing he did at Wimbledon, so know it's all about whether he can truly back it up.

This Djokovic—Alcaraz final is, in many ways, the ultimate final we can get in tennis right now. On one side, we have Novak Djokovic, who has a lot of question marks. He required a medical timeout in the match against Stefanos Tsitsiaps due to some minor knee discomfort and admitted after the match that it worried him.

None of those issues were present in the next match, so it seems like things are fine, but it's something to remember because on clay movement is very important. If his knee doesn't allow him to move as well as he can, he's in a really big problem against Carlos Alcaraz, who will move him side to side in every rally.

On the other hand we also have an incredibly motivated Djokovic who, in situations like this, always finds something that we thought was impossible. Doing so against Alcaraz would be incredible, though, but would you bet your life that he can't do it? I'm not sure many people would make that bet, and that's the point. The respect he commands will always be there. On a more general note, the level has been very high, albeit not his best. He's been broken by both Nadal, Tsitsipas, and Musetti, so his serve can be broken.

He can also be overwhelmed in rallies, especially with Alcaraz's power, so he can be beaten. Can Alcaraz beat him? Of course. The Spaniard is the nominal favourite in this one, and it's largely because of how the Wimbledon final left. Had that match been competitive, like last year's Wimbledon final, we probably would have gotten similar odds here, but after Alcaraz won that easily, it's kind of hard to imagine things going differently on clay. It mostly has to do with the surface, as Alcaraz just plays so well on it.

Think about it. We have a younger player who moves better than Djokovic at this very moment, who has more power in his shots, and who generally can hit any spot on the court from anywhere else on the court. Another crucial thing for Alcaraz is the serve, which has improved dramatically and has been working really well in recent weeks. It really unlocked his game, similar to how Sinner unlocked his with the serve, so the serve can't be broken easily anymore. It's a huge advantage for any player especially him who was already one of the most dangerous players to serve to.

So how is Djokovic supposed to beat Alcaraz? He's not, and that's the point. We're in a moment in tennis history where Alcaraz has overtaken Djokovic so much that he doesn't need his best to win this match, and Djokovic does. If Alcaraz brings his best, then we've seen at Wimbledon how it's not even close. The difference on clay would be even more stark, and it's why the Spaniard is favoured to win the gold medal.

It's why he's so confident that he will win gold because the odds are hugely in his favour. The experience is one of the few things that could benefit Djokovic. Alcaraz has shown in the past that he can get a bit nervous in the big moments, and if that happens and Djokovic pounces on that chance, then the match might become interesting. As you can see, it's a pretty clear case of grasping at straws, which just further highlights that Djokovic is facing a very tough challenge.

While everything he's ever wanted is on the other side of this upcoming challenge, it's one of the biggest he's ever faced in his career because a player who doesn't care about his dreams is on the other side of the net. Alcaraz is here to make his dream a reality, and after everything is said and done, there is a very good chance that he will be handed the gold medal.