Italian tennis great Adriano Panatta has proclaimed that Carlos Alcaraz will be “stuck” with his loss to Novak Djokovic at the 2024 Paris Olympic for “a long time.”
The 1976 French Open winner declared the defeat has “marked” Alcaraz and also stressed Djokovic will need time to recover from his “superhuman effort” to win the gold medal.
Alcaraz secured a silver medal at the Paris Games after he was thwarted by a brilliant Djokovic performance in a pulsating gold medal match at Stade Roland Garros. A devastated Alcaraz was brought to tears during an interview following the 6-7(3), 6-7(2) loss on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The 21-year-old star was upset by Gael Monfils at the Cincinnati Masters in his first match since the Olympics.
The world No 3 then suffered a shock second round loss to 74th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp at the 2024 US Open to end his bid to win a third successive major.
Panatta suggested Alcaraz’s Olympics heartbreak could have a lingering effect and also pointed to the efforts of Djokovic and bronze medallist Lorenzo Musetti at the Games.
“I think Carlos will be stuck with the loss to Djokovic for a long time,” the former world No 4 told Domenica Sportiva. “In tennis you are only on the court, in football you can also not play if you are not well, or there are friends who pull you up.
“This thing marked him, as it marked Djokovic from the nervous point of view. He made a superhuman effort to win that final and will need time to recover. [Lorenzo] Musetti has done a lot.”
Ahead of his 2024 US Open campaign, Alcaraz reflected on the disappointment of losing the Paris Olympics final.
“Well, this is one of the most important final of my career, of my life,” said the four-time Grand Slam champion.
“I know that the Olympic Games is every four years, so I don’t know if I’m gonna have another chance to win the gold. I’m gonna fight for it, for sure, the next Olympic Games.
“But it was a difficult moment to deal [with] for me, you know, losing the gold medal in a really close match that I had opportunities.
“But you know, in front of me, I had a really good player that he was fighting for the same thing as me, and he deserve it.
“So days after the Olympics was, okay, I realise that I won the silver medal, it was a great achievement for me that I have to be proud of.”
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