"Pride and joy of Serbia" - Boris Becker elated as Novak Djokovic receives hero's welcome in home country after Paris Olympics gold medal heroics

Boris Becker reacted to the grand welcome Novak Djokovic and other Serbian athletes received upon their return to Belgrade from the 2024 Paris Olympics. The World No. 2 clinched the gold medal in the men's singles event, a feat that had eluded him since his first appearance at the Beijing Olympics 16 years ago.

The Serbian athletes arrived in Belgrade on Monday and celebrated into the night with fans outside the Belgrade City Hall. In addition to Djokovic's gold medal, Serbia returned from the 2024 Paris Olympics with four other medals. The water polo team won their third consecutive Olympic gold, Zorana Arunović and Damir Mikec secured the gold in the air pistol mixed team event, Aleksandra Perišić earned the silver in taekwondo, and the men's basketball team took home the bronze.

On Tuesday, Boris Becker reacted to a video of Djokovic waving to thousands of fans from the City Hall's balcony and dancing with fellow athletes. He captioned the post on X (formerly Twitter):

“Pride and joy of Serbia”

Djokovic's journey to clinching the gold medal was not easy. The 37-year-old defeated Matthew Ebden, Rafael Nadal, Dominik Koepfer, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Lorenzo Musetti before overcoming Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) in the final.

The Serb has yet to win a title on the ATP tour this season. He reached the semifinals at the Australian Open, withdrew from the French Open quarterfinals due to a knee injury that required surgery and finished runner-up at Wimbledon. Djokovic's next tournament will likely be the 2024 US Open, a tournament he has won four times, including last year.

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Novak Djokovic described winning the gold medal at the Olympics as his greatest sporting achievement

Novak Djokovic at the 2024 Summer Olympics - Day 9 (Source: Getty)

An emotional Novak Djokovic described winning the medal for Serbia as the biggest sporting achievement of his career after defeating Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in the final at the Paris Olympics to clinch the gold. He was quoted as saying during the post-match conference:

“Everything I felt in that moment when I won surpassed everything I thought or hoped that it would. Being on that court with the Serbian flag raising, singing the Serbian anthem, with the gold around my neck, I think nothing can beat that in terms of professional sport. It definitely stands out as the biggest sporting achievement I have had."

The closest the former World No. 1 had come to clinching the gold medal was when he won the bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. His victory also makes him a "Golden Slam" champion, joining Rafael Nadal, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, and Andre Agassi.