August 4 may have seemed to be an ordinary Parisian Sunday filled with laze and relaxation. It was anything but that in the world of tennis as Novak Djokovic cemented his status as the most prolific player in the Open Era.
The man, donning primarily red, fell to the hallowed red dirt of Court Philippe-Chatrier. Djokovic could not hold back his tears because he knew this was it. Nothing came close to how much the 99th title of his career meant. He had, at last, overcome his longest-standing hurdle.
Victory at the Summer Games — it was no more a distant dream, it was now a very real result of the endless work he had put in and one that he will undoubtedly hold closest to his heart.
Maybe it had to do with the mythical nature of the Olympiad. Maybe it had to do with conquering the unconquered in his fifth attempt. Or maybe, it had something to do with proving to the world, and himself to some degree, that he was not an outsider. That is what he had craved all along — not the never-ending stream of titles, not the 185 million USD in prize money, but acceptance. That Novak Djokovic is also a name that belongs in the same conversation as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
He was always considered the ‘third party’ among the Big Three.
Before his entry, the existing rivalry at the forefront of men’s tennis between the Swiss Federer and Spaniard Nadal was ideal from an audience’s point of view.
Nadal’s gritty warrior-like nature was the exact antithesis of Federer’s graceful poise. It was the perfect clash of ideologies.
They went hand-in-glove with each other. It was the perfect pairing. And then, out of nowhere, came this boisterous Serbian talent, who turned pro at 15. Djokovic disrupted the fairytale storyline.
But none of that matters anymore.
The Serb had conquered his final peak and fittingly sealed his career Golden Slam with an Olympic gold, becoming only the fifth player to do so after Steffi Graff, Andre Agassi, Serena Williams and Nadal.
In his quest to etch his name in the tennis books as one of the greatest to ever do it, Djokovic has gone above and beyond and obliterated any room there may have been for debate.
With 99 titles, 24 Majors (10 Australian Open, three Roland-Garros, seven Wimbledon and four US Open), the elusive Olympic Gold, 1116 singles victories, and a win rate of 83.5%, Novak Djokovic has single-handedly put an end to a conversation spanning decades and has proved himself to be the best player to ever pick up a tennis…