Novak Djokovic lauds Serbian shooting duo on clinching gold at Paris Olympics
Novak Djokovic reacted to the Serbian shooting pair of Zorana Arunovic and Damir Mikec on securing gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team event at the Paris Olympics. The pair narrowly edged out the Turkish duo of Yusuf Dikec and Seval Tarhan to give Serbia their first medal at the quadrennial event.
It's also the nation's first-ever gold in shooting at the Olympics, a sport where they have also secured two silvers and two bronzes.
Djokovic congratulated Arunovic and Mikec on their stellar achievement by taking to Instagram. The 37-year-old shared an image of the two and added a few emojis, including those of a gold medal and the Serbian flag.
Djokovic has appeared in four editions of the Olympics before in his career. His only medal came in his debut in the 2008 edition of the prestigious event in Beijing, beating James Blake in the playoff. He also reached the semifinals in London 2012 but endured a loss to Andy Murray before being beaten by Juan Martin Del Potro in the bronze medal fixture.
Rio 2016 was a disappointing affair for the Serb as he lost in to the Argentine in the very first round. He reached the semifinals of the men's singles tournament in Tokyo 2020 but lost to Alexander Zverev before suffering another defeat to Pablo Carren Busta in the bronze medal playoff.
Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal to reach the third round at Paris Olympics 2024
Novak Djokovic booked his place in the third round of the men's singles competition at the Paris Olympics after making easy work of his rival Rafael Nadal. He beat the Spaniard 6-1, 6-4 to extend his head-to-head lead over the latter to 31-29.
This is only the third time the Serb defeated Nadal at Roland Garros, having previously triumphed over him in the quarterfinals of the 2015 French Open and the semifinals of the 2021 French Open. For the Spaniard, this was his worst singles finish at the Olympics, having previously won gold in Beijing 200 while securing fourth place in Rio 2016.
After beating Nadal, the 37-year-old will next take on either eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or 12th seed Sebastian Baez. Djokovic has a 11-2 head-to-head over the Greek, winning their last ten encounters. He is yet to take on Sebastian Baez.