Djokovic, in his fifth Olympic appearance, triumphed 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2) against Carlos Alcaraz in a thrilling final at Roland Garros, adding Olympic gold to his 24 Grand Slam titles. "This is probably the biggest sporting success I have ever had and the most special feeling," said the 37-year-old Serbian.

"I thought carrying the flag at the opening ceremony for my country at the 2012 Olympics was the best feeling an athlete could have until today. Now at the age of 37 and facing a 21-year-old who is probably the best player in the world right now, winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back, I can say that this is probably the biggest sporting success I have ever had."

Djokovic's victory on Sunday places him alongside Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, Steffi Graf, and Serena Williams as the only players to win all four Grand Slam tournaments and Olympic singles gold, completing the career Golden Slam.

Before defeating Alcaraz, Djokovic's best Olympic result was a bronze medal in 2008 at Beijing. He had also lost in three semi-finals. He now aims to continue playing and has not dismissed the possibility of competing for back-to-back golds in Los Angeles in four years.

"I want to play in Los Angeles, I enjoy playing for my country in the Olympic Games, in the Davis Cup," he added. Djokovic, the oldest singles champion since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988, thwarted Alcaraz's bid to add gold to his French Open and Wimbledon titles from this summer.

An emotional Djokovic fell to his knees on Court Philippe Chatrier, where he has won three French Opens, before lifting the Serbian flag and joining his wife and children in the players' box.

"We almost played three hours, the final shot was the only moment when I was sure I could win the match," said Djokovic. Sunday's title was the 99th of his career and his first in 2024, after a challenging season where Jannik Sinner succeeded him as Australian Open champion and eventually took his world number one spot.

Alcaraz then beat him at the French Open and denied him the chance to equal Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles. A knee injury at the French Open required surgery, and Djokovic's participation in the Olympic semi-finals was briefly in doubt when he seemed to aggravate the injury.

"I knew that this could be my last chance of a gold medal," Djokovic said at his post-final press conference, still draped in his country's flag and with his medal proudly around his neck.

"I did everything I possibly could to prepare myself for this period. The injury sidetracked me a little bit. But coming into the Olympic Games, I felt like a different player in terms of how I moved, how I played. In a way, losing heavily to Alcaraz at Wimbledon probably worked in my favor as I knew I couldn't play any worse than that."