The old mountain wolf has come full circle. The 37-year-old Novak Djokovic was only missing the Olympic laurel, in a career of extraordinary numbers: 24 Grand Slam titles, 40 Masters Mille (each tournament won at least twice), eight years closed as No. 1. In every voice of tennis, he has something more than eternal rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. This was the mission, already accomplished, now completed and definitively sealed on Sunday, August 4.

An old saying goes that victories are not counted, but weighed. Beating an indomitable Carlos Alcaraz, 16 years younger, in the Parisian August, on the court that made the Serbian suffer and cry the most, the Philippe Chatrier, well, it was (perhaps) the last great pearl of a career. On the podium of the most prestigious victories, together with the endless battle against Nadal at the Australian Open in 2012 or, it goes without sayingat the legendary epilogue of Wimbledon 2019 against Federer. Three matches that tell the indomitable character of the Balkan better than many words.

Around his neck, for his beloved Serbian land, he has that coveted gold medal. The declared goal of the year and an inner torment for a decade. Federer had tasted the precious metal in doubles, Nadal in two different editions won in both disciplines. Many pointed it out to him and he sketched: he would have liked so much to give another joy to the plavi after the Davis Cup of 2010.

There is little to say. Djoker is undoubtedly the strongest and most successful tennis player in history. Any number is on his side. And he deserves to be in the “enclosure” of the greatest athletes in the history of sport, together with Michael Jordan, Mohammad Alì, Carl Lewis, Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Eddy Merckx and a few others. Nole may not have dragged millions of fans to buy a racket and test themselves on the courts as Federer did with his unrepeatable class, but he has projected his sport into another dimension, for the mental and physical approach.

From the strict diet, now indispensable for any professional of any discipline, which at a certain point became too “Taliban” and therefore revised, to the need to constantly improve every part of the technique. A student of tennis who is always hungry to learn and cultivate every aspect with maniacal care. Djokovic improved further when he “passed” thirty, adding details to his game at the net and a wicked serve, always under control. When several colleagues were struggling athletically, he became even stronger. He applied Kobe Bryant’s “mamba-mentality” with the same ardour.

He comes from a land, the former Yugoslavia, where, in sport, “he died in beauty.” It was almost a boast to play well and lose, a lifestyle of the Balkan game, in the past very prone to entertain, charm and then let the most coveted trophies slip away. Djokovic was the nemesis, the redemption of an entire people: not the most beautiful to watch, but absolutely the most effective and successful.

Too underestimated, in the media, the “wall” that he knocked down in the Balkans. Nole who publicly declared his football support for Croatia on the eve of the 2018 World Cup final, is worth years of policies of reconciliation between the two peoples. An “endorsement” that made many compatriots turn up their noses, but which contributes to calming the climate. Nole who naturally chooses Goran Ivanisevic as coach, is another historic decision. The greatest Serbian tennis player trained by the greatest Croatian tennis player. Cinematic stuff. However, like almost every Serb, he is not willing to retreat on a hot front: Kosovo is the heart of Serbia.

The media, unfortunately, have accentuated, beyond all measure, his “eccentricities”: the broken rackets (even amateurs destroy them), the squabbles with the public (sought to find new competitive energy), the well-known quarrel about Covid (the result of the “holistic” experiences undertaken with his wife Jelena). A way to smooth the fur of the public of tennis enthusiasts (or presumed such), divided between Federer and Nadal fans.

He, the third wheel, the underdog, the “bad guy”, who arrived together with his peer Andy Murray, when the fans had already lined up in the two main camps, invested in himself, convinced that one day he would win more than them and beat them even on their respective favourite terrains.

The Serbian wolf is comfortable with the greats of the sport for the way in which he has achieved so many of his triumphs. In comebacks, in difficult situations, with opponents who were playing even better, with the public against him. A champion who knows how to overturn fate when it seems adverse to him. Almost a Marvel superhero, who always finds new stimuli. After having ousted Federer and Nadal from the throne, he has no qualms about fighting with Alcaraz and Sinner, aware that the race against time cannot be won, but only postponed for a little longer. But from now on he will do it for pure enjoyment of the game, because the long run-up to the great goals is complete. And if I think of the Olympic motto – “citius, altius, fortius”, faster, higher, stronger – the Djoker can only come to mind.