"It was a difficult moment": Carlos Alcaraz rues missed 'opportunities' in Olympic final loss to Novak Djokovic, questions future chance at gold medal

Carlos Alcaraz spoke about his Olympic final defeat to Novak Djokovic. The Spaniard lost the gold medal match 6-7(3), 6-7(2) in Paris.

The Spaniard, while addressing his pre-tournament press conference at the US Open, spoke briefly about his experience of dealing with the defeat.

Alcaraz said he had never lost such an important final in his career, before adding that he has his eyes set on the Olympics despite them being held four years apart. He, however, circled back to the Olympics final, saying losing out a medal despite having her chances.

"Well, this is one of the most important final of my career, of my life," Carlos Alcaraz said. "I know that the Olympic Game 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 Olympics Games."

"But it was a difficult moment to deal for me, you know, losing the gold medal in a really close match that I had opportunities," he added.

The Paris Olympics is Alcaraz's very first appearanceat the quadrennial event so far.

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"I had a really good player fighting" - Carlos Alcaraz on facing Novak Djokovic at Paris Olympics

Carlos Alcaraz lost the 2024 Paris Olympics gold medal match to Novak Djokovic (Source: Getty)

Carlos Alcaraz conceded that he was toppled by a better player, Novak Djokovic, in the Paris Olympics gold medal match. He also expressed satisfaction with having brought home a silver, calling it a “great achievement” that he was proud of.

"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," Carlos Alcaraz said. "So days after the Olympics was, okay, I realize that I won the silver medal, it was a great achievement for me that I have to be proud of."

Looking ahead, the Spaniard said he would learn from his weaknesses in the past matches. He also expressed hope at being able to deal with the pressure better.

"You know, I try to keep going, try to learn about this match," the Spaniard said. "Just the next finals or the next important matches of my career I gonna deal in a different way or a better way than I did in Olympics."

Alcaraz, the 2022 US Open champion, will open his campaign in Flushing Meadows against Australian Li Tu on Tuesday (August 27). It will be the very first meeting between the two, with the winner taking on either Denis Shapovalov or Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round.

Alcaraz has 38 wins out of 46 matches so far in 2024, winning three titles. The Spaniard will enter US Open 2024 at the back of a disastrous second-round exit at the Cincinnati Open, losing 6-4, 6-7(5), 4-6 to Gael Monfils.