Everyone knows how tough it is to face Novak Djokovic on a tennis court, but only the players who have experienced it can tell the tale. Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Bublik are two of those players who can speak about what it’s like to go up against the Serbian, and in a video shared by UTS where they are interviewed by Patrick Mouratoglou, both agreed on his ability in returning serves.

“The problem with Novak is that every time there’s a break point or something like that, he plays incredibly. You can’t ace him, he knows where you’re going to serve it. I played against him in the Davis Cup and it was always deuce, advantage… He’s everywhere. I served my best slice serve to the T and he returns it to the baseline… It’s crazy,” stated Bublik. The Australian recalled his lost final at Wimbledon against the Serbian: “I couldn’t have served any better. I think if I had played like Rafa in the Wimbledon final, it might have gone well for me. He’s different. How many finals does he have, 30? That was my first final. So with that experience, he wasn’t fazed at all. He’s very good.”

Novak Djokovic celebrated his gold medal victory at the Paris 2024 Olympics in his native Serbia with the rest of the Serbian Olympic team, as huge crowds of Serbians received their athletes with a warm welcome Monday evening.

Thousands of onlookers congregated in the capital at Belgrade City Hall to celebrate the efforts of Djokovic and the rest of the Serbian Olympic team, following an Olympic campaign where Serbia accrued five medals overall, including three gold medals.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was present to warmly greet Djokovic and the rest of the Serbian athletes.

Djokovic defeated Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(3), 7-6(2) in the Olympic final to claim a long- awaited Olympic gold medal and complete the career ‘Golden Slam’. The Serb was visibly emotional after his victory, stating that winning the elusive gold medal was “the biggest sporting achievement I have had”.

“I have had the honour and pleasure of being on this special [City Hall] balcony several times in my career, but each time you surprise and inspire me more and more,” Djokovic told the crowd. “This is the most beautiful feeling that an athlete from Serbia can experience.”

Djokovic was joined on the Belgrade City Hall balcony by the rest of the Serbian Olympic team, which included basketball star, Nikola Jokic, a staple figure in the national team as they secured the bronze medal with victory over Germany.

We reveal what sports goals can incentivize the Serb in the coming times and keep his competitive ambition alive.

Novak Djokovic has conquered all imaginable successes in the career of a professional tennis player, and many wonder if this could lead to a lack of ambition on his part, something that could hasten his retirement. The Serbian’s main driving force is his love for tennis, but there are still some challenges ahead that could excite him.

Winning the Olympic gold has been the crowning achievement that was missing for Novak Djokovic to complete a dream career. The Balkan tennis player dominates the vast majority of major statistics related to major titles won and the world No.

1 ranking. He had been fervently seeking to complete his list of achievements with a victory at the Olympic Games, so many tennis enthusiasts fear that he may feel a certain sense of emptiness now that he has achieved it, and may consider his career satisfactory at 37 years old.

He himself was questioned about this in Paris, with the gold medal around his neck, and he tried to distance himself from definitive statements, but made it clear that what drives him most to continue competing is his love for tennis and the desire to build an everlasting legacy that goes beyond results. Nevertheless, Novak’s competitive drive is beyond doubt, and there may still be statistical challenges that motivate and add to convincing him to make all the necessary sacrifices in order to stay at the top for a few more years. Some of them are reviewed here.

– Becoming the player with the most matches won in all four Grand Slams

Interestingly, Novak doesn’t hold the record for victories in any of the four majors, but he could manage to be listed in all of them as the player with the most matches won if he continues on the circuit for a few more years. He is 8 matches behind Federer at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, 10 behind Connors at the US Open, and his toughest challenge is to surpass Nadal at Roland Garros as the Spaniard leads him by 16 matches. Therefore, he would need at least three more years to break that record.

– Becoming the oldest Grand Slam champion in the Open Era

This longevity record is well within reach as he would only need to win the US Open in 2024. If he doesn’t achieve it, he will have the chance in subsequent events of this category. Novak has been a model of professionalism throughout his career and deserves to surpass the records of Federer and Rosewall.

– Winning each of the Masters 1000 tournaments three times

Before Djokovic burst onto the scene, no player had managed to win all the events that are now Masters 1000. Well, he accomplished it and, moreover, did it twice each. As if this weren’t impressive enough, he only needs to win one more event to be able to say he is the champion of all of them, at least three times. Monte Carlo is the one that eludes him.

– Being the third player in history to reach 1,200 matches won

Currently, the Serbian has 1,116 victories. It’s not far-fetched to think that he could win another 84 matches, although the fact that he significantly reduces his competition appearances makes the task more difficult. He would be the third player to achieve this, after Jimmy Connors (1,274 wins) and Roger Federer (1,251 victories).

– Becoming the player with the most titles won of all time

Jimmy Connors’ record of 109 titles seemed unreachable until recently, but Djokovic already has 99. He is close to becoming the third player in history to win a hundred titles and is near Federer’s 103. Overtaking the American seems more challenging, but he should never be counted out.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov has lauded Novak Djokovic as the greatest tennis player of all time but believes that he cannot lay claim to being sports greatest ever athlete.

Kafelnikov puts basketball superstar Michael Jordan, who also played baseball at the pro level, on a pedestal as the greatest athlete of all time.

He says that Jordan’s charismatic draw sets him aside as someone that you just needed to see.

“There’s no doubt that Novak is the greatest tennis player of all time, that’s for sure. You can’t put him on the same level as Michael Jordan… I don’t think so, because I grew up idolising the greatest athlete of all time, which was Michael Jordan,” Kafelnikov wrote in a social media post.

“All I wanted to do was watch him play live. To me, he’s still number one, but Novak is definitely in the top three greatest athletes of all time, without a doubt – all the accomplishments, the records he’s broken, the titles he’s won.”

Djokovic found an answer for the new generation at last in Paris, blowing away many with his efforts in overcoming Carlos Alcaraz in the gold medal match.

The Serbian had identified the need to find a way to best the likes of Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner after he was bested in straight sets by the Spaniard at Wimbledon.

“Well, the Olympic Games and US Open are the two big goals for the rest of the year for me really,” Djokovic said as he took in his loss at SW19.

“I’m hoping I can be at my best on those two tournaments, yeah. That’s all I can say right now.

“I mean, being able to reach the finals of Wimbledon, of course, it’s a great confidence boost. But I also feel like in a matchup today against best player right now in the world for sure, I mean, other than Jannik, and both of them are the best this year by far, I feel like I’m not at that level.

“In order to really have a chance to I guess beat these guys in Grand Slam latter stages or Olympics, I’m going to have to play much better than I did today and feel much better than I did today.

“I’m going to work on it. It’s not something I haven’t experienced before ever in my life. I’ve had so many different experiences throughout my career. In the face of adversity, normally I rise and I learn and get stronger.

“That’s what I’m going to do.”

The tennis tournaments at the Paris Olympics start with 15 men’s singles matches on Saturday. 64 men will begin their quest for Gold, and we’ll rapidly get to the winner in a bit over a week. As always, we here at LastWordOnTennis will predict all of the matches for you. We split the 15 matches into four articles. The other articles feature Novak Djokovic vs Matthew Ebden, Carlos Alcaraz vs Hedy Habib, and Daniil Medvedev vs Rinky Hijikata. Predicting these matches are Damian Kust, Shane Black, and Yesh Ginsburg. Who do you think will move on to Round 2?

As a special for the Olympics, we will also be predicting all of the other Day 1 matches, including doubles. We will link to our other Olympic predictions at the bottom of the article. Enjoy!

Paris Olympics Men’s Day 1 Predictions

Felix Auger-Aliassime (Canada) vs Marcos Giron (United States)

Damian:
Two players who aren’t that good in slower clay conditions, but it still feels like Auger-Aliassime is a class ahead. Giron just picked up that maiden title in Newport and might be playing a bit pressure-free here. His baseline shots just aren’t that good though and this is a surface where you need that consistent depth.
Prediction: Auger-Aliassime in 2

Shane:
Giron is coming off his maiden title in Newport. His consistency from the ground is at an all time high. However, Auger-Aliassime has found his form over the past few months. He reached the second week of the French Open and should feel confident in his game on the clay.
Prediction: Auger-Aliassime in 3

Giron somehow always finds his best tennis for the biggest events. His best tennis isn’t enough to really trouble the Canadian, though.
Prediction: Auger-Aliassime in 3

Dan Evans (Great Britain) vs Moez Echargui (Tunisia)

Damian:
Echargui got this chance by winning the African Games and against most of the draw, he wouldn’t really stand a shot. Evans is very average on clay though and is in the middle of a truly horrendous season. But he knows how to peak when he’s playing for his country and will likely grind this out if he needs to.
Prediction: Evans in 2

Shane:
Evans has not had the best season, but he is the heavy favorite against the World No. 373. Echargui has only beaten one Top 100 player in his career. If Evans doesn’t implode, he should have no problem in this match.
Prediction: Evans in 2

Yesh:
Even on clay, Evans is just too good in this matchup. It won’t be close.
Prediction: Evans in 2

Damian:
Skip. Ebden hasn’t played a singles match in two years and while he was in the Top 40 back in the day, his clay win rate for the whole career is about 33%. The most interesting thing here will be whether Djokovic is wearing the knee brace, but even that won’t tell us much about his form going into the rest of the event.
Prediction: Djokovic in 2

Shane:
Is Djokovic 100% healthy? Likely not, but that should not matter in this first-round matchup. The 24x Grand Slam champion is on the hunt for Olympic Gold.
Prediction: Djokovic in 2

Yesh:
Djokovic has given no indication that he’s retiring anytime soon, but this is almost certainly his final Olympics. After winning Bronze in 2008, his Olympic results have been disappointing, to say the least. I don’t know if he can win Gold this year, but it’s his last chance for the one achievement missing from his illustrious career. He’s not falling at the first hurdle.
Prediction: Djokovic in 2