With 24 Grand Slam titles and several other ATP Tour wins, one can hardly ask for anything better. These are the statistics of Novak Djokovic, who is one of the most successful athletes in men’s tennis. Despite numerous trophies lying in the athlete’s cabinet, there is one major missing thing, and that is an Olympic gold medal. Ahead of the Paris Olympics, Djokovic has gone out of his way in order to succeed in the tournament and find the missing piece in his illustrious tennis career.

The Serb has come close to winning the yellow metal on multiple occasions. While he achieved a third-place finish at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Djokovic finished fourth-best in the previous edition in Tokyo. With the Paris Olympics potentially being Djokovic’s last chance to win the coveted gold, he was seen turning religious before the opening ceremony.

In a hilarious dive into social media, Djokovic made his debut on TikTok and shared a video where he was seen passing a cabinet of three gold medals on display. What made it funny was how he looked at the medals, then the camera, and ultimately to the heavens, folding his hands and praying to the Olympic gods to change his fate before leaving for the opening ceremony. While Grand Slams are important to him, Djokovic’s ultimate goal this year is to succeed in Paris.

During an interview last year, he set his sights on the elusive gold medal, saying, “The Olympics are a huge desire of mine – it’s a unique opportunity, I have a bronze from Beijing 2008… A lot of things are different at the Olympics – you can’t bring your whole team, some of the routines you usually have are limited, there are a lot of athletes from other sports, which gives you the energy on one hand, but it drains you on the other… All those things you mentioned – I want it all, why not, and we’ll see where it ends.”

However, the Serb has been in poor form this season. Ahead of the Paris Olympics, a legendary player delved deep into Djokovic’s problems that might hinder his chance in search of the gold medal.

Has a title-less Novak Djokovic been ‘leading up to this moment’?

After the highs of the 2023 season which saw Djokovic win 3 Grand Slam titles, the expectations from him were high for this year. However, the Serb has had a disappointing run in the tournaments thus far this year. Coupled with injuries, it has made matters worse for Djokovic, so much so that Rennae Stubbs made a brutal criticism about him.

She said, “What the hell? Novak hasn’t even won a tournament this year. What is going on? Has he been leading up to this moment?” During the French Open, the Serb reached the last eight on the back of some gritty performances. However, ahead of his quarterfinal clash, Djokovic suffered a knee injury and had to withdraw from the tournament.

With memories from the heartbreaking French Open exit still afresh, Djokovic would look for redemption as he sets foot at Roland Garros again. It’ll be interesting to see if the Serb can come out on the top, with many tennis pundits writing him off.