Novak Djokovic’s Olympic run triggered memories of his

When Novak Djokovic thinks he’s hit a winner on an important point, he often elongates his grunt as the ball comes off his racquet. So it was no surprise when he did just that in Paris on Sunday at the end of one of the most cathartic victories of his career, over Carlos Alcaraz in the Olympic gold-medal match at Roland Garros.

In the second-set tiebreak, Djokovic sprinted down the homestretch and wasted no time crossing the finish line. On match point, he took the first forehand he saw, reached back a little farther than normal on his swing, made his grunt extend a little longer, and clubbed the ball with total confidence. Even the speedy Alcaraz, who normally gets to everything, could only hang his head and wave as it went by.

For me, the shot triggered memories of another, similar Olympic match point from 12 years earlier. This one belonged to Serena Williams, when she won her own long-sought singles gold medal, in a rout over Maria Sharapova on Centre Court. On match point, Serena also reached back a little farther to hit her serve, and sent an ace screaming straight down the T. Her celebratory yell seemed to come even before the ball had left her strings.

That Serena celebration didn’t just pop into my mind from nowhere. At the same time that Djokovic was inching, sometimes gingerly, toward gold, I watched “In the Arena,” the ESPN documentary on Serena’s career. The juxtaposition made me think about their careers side-by-side.

Djokovic has 24 major titles; Williams finished with 23. Serena won four straight majors—the Serena Slam—in 2002-03 and 2014-15; Djokovic won four straight—the Djoker Slam—in 2015-16. They each won the first three legs of a calendar-year Grand Slam—Williams in 2015, Djokovic in 2021—before falling late at the US Open. Now, along with Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, and Rafael Nadal, they’re two of the five players who have won a career Golden Slam in singles. (Williams also has one in doubles with her sister Venus, just for kicks.)

The Golden Slam is not an ideal metric for measuring all-time greatness. It only became possible in 1988, and winning gold requires the stars to align in a way that even a dominant player can’t always control. Roger Federer might have one if Juan Martin del Potro hadn’t forced him to win a 19-17 third set in their semifinal in London in 2012; two days later, Andy Murray rolled over Federer for gold. Williams and Djokovic, the consensus GOATs of the Open Era, didn’t complete theirs until they were 30 and 37, respectively.

But winning gold at the Games does show an ability to seize the moment.