The recent gold medal win at the 2024 Olympic Games by Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic, is a mark of the never-say-die spirit that drives some of the greatest athletes and achievers in the world. It equally calls to mind the exploits of another great sportsman, the Argentine ‘magician’ Lionel Messi. That these two great athletes defied the odds in the twilight of their careers is most extraordinary.
y were bornwithin one month of each other in 1987, Novak Djokovic on May 22nd in Belgrade Yugoslavia (now Serbia), and Lionel Messi 32 days later on June 24th 1987 in Rosario Argentina, no soothsayer could have predicted that two people who would divide opinions, entertain, mesmerize, and perform feats unprecedented in the world of sports have been born.
Today, that unthinkable vision has come to pass. While Lionel Messi has held the world spellbound with his mesmerizing skills on the football field, Novak Djokovic on his part, has left the world in awe of his resilience, mental strength, and overall mastery on the tennis court. For both these sports stars, representing their countries in international competitions has been a driving force. From the start, Djokovic had made it clear that representing Serbia was a priority. That was why, at 14 years old, despite poverty and lack, he rejected overtures to become a British citizen.
While Messi never had a citizenship problem, he scooped the first of his eight Ballon d’Or titles in 2009 as a 22-year-old player, after helping Barcelona to a historic treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey, and UEFA Champions League titles. In 2008 however, Djokovic had served notice of his arrival in the top rankings of tennis, by winning the Australian Open crown, the first of his 24 Grand Slam titles to date.
As the years went by however, their careers blossomed. But as the saying goes, champions are never made without rivals. So, while Lionel Messi had the great Cristiano Ronaldo to contend with, Novak Djokovic had not one, but two fierce rivals in Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The similarities between these sportsmen shine through when you consider that despite the quality of these rivalries, they ultimately were able to dominate their sports.
Having won all available titles on offer as their careers progressed and age began to catch up with them, there remained a few hurdles to cross. For Lionel Messi, having won age grade championships and Olympic gold for his country early in his career, his albatross remained winning a senior international title for Argentina. For Novak Djokovic, there was no pretense about the desire to win Olympic gold for Serbia. These twin desires remained a challenge for these two superhuman athletes late into their careers.
Issues were compounded for Lionel Messi, when in 2016, much against the odds, his great Rival Cristiano Ronaldo, led Portugal to victory at the UEFA European Championships, thereby giving him success where Messi had failed. Messi had lost the 2014 FIFA World Cup final to Germany, the 2007 Copa America final to Brazil, and the 2015 and 2016 Copa America finals to Chile. With these international defeats, critics mocked Messi and labeled him a choker as he could not deliver for his beloved country Argentina, despite having won all available personal accolades in football, and everything for Barcelona.
For Djokovic the outlook was not dissimilar, having led Serbia to victory in the 2010 Davis Cup, which is regarded as the tennis World Cup. He equally led Serbia to win the inaugural ATP Cup competition in 2020. These ensured that Djokovic was a winner for his country. But his personal desire to win Olympic gold for Serbia remained unfulfilled. In his first Olympics in 2008, Djokovic won a bronze medal after defeat in the semi-final to Rafael Nadal. In 2012, he lost to Andy Murray in the semifinal. It was another semifinal loss in 2016 to Juan Martin del Potro, before being conquered again at the same stage by Alexander Zverev in 2020. With these near misses and age not being on his side, it became palpable that Djokovic may never win the much-desired Olympic gold for Serbia.
The year 2021 would forever remain memorable for Lionel Messi, as he finally broke his international hoodoo when leading Argentina to victory at the Copa America by defeating old rivals Brazil 1-nil in the final. It was a title to savor, and his critics were quieted. It was not to end there as he followed it up by leading Argentina to the ultimate crown; the FIFA World Cup title in 2022, when they beat defending champions France on penalties after a pulsating 3-3 draw. As if to put an icing on the cake, he again led Argentina to defend the Copa America crown in 2024, beating Colombia 1-nil in the final.
For Novak Djokovic however, at the age of 37 in 2024, no one gave him a chance at the Olympics. To underscore this point, Djokovic had his worst start to a tennis season. He lost to Alex de Minaur in his first competition at the quarterfinals of the United Cup. He was beaten by Jannik Sinner in the semifinal of the Australian Open. This was followed by a third-round defeat to Luca Nardi at the Indian Wells Masters. There was another semifinal loss at the Monte Carlo Masters to Casper Ruud, before a third-round defeat to Alejandro Tabilo at the Italian Open. He was then beaten by Tomas Machach in the semifinal of the Geneva Open, before withdrawing in the quarterfinals of the French Open due to injury. His best result came in defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in the title match at Wimbledon.
What started as the worst year of Novak Djokovic’s career evidently ended up yielding his most desired title, when he defeated his young rival Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(3), 7-6(2) in the gold medal match of the 2024 Olympic Games. From the story of these two legendary sportsmen it is clear that resilience and belief are very important attributes in life. Just when people thought they were finished and done for, they bounced back to silence their critics. Perhaps it is fitting to round off this writeup by quoting Novak Djokovic in a statement he made to Serbian athletes at the Olympic village in Paris after winning gold. “I want this to be a Pelzer (motivation) for you. This is my fifth Olympic Games, I’m 37 years old, I’ve never played in an Olympic final until now, and I want you to believe that nothing is impossible.”
