Novak Djokovic wins his first Olympic gold by beating Carlos Alcaraz in the men's tennis final
Paris, Aug 4: Novak Djokovic won his first Olympic gold medal by beating Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) in an enthralling men's tennis singles final Sunday, giving the 37-year-old from Serbia the last significant accomplishment missing from his glittering resume.
Djokovic's impressive career already featured a men's-record 24 Grand Slam titles and the most weeks spent at No. 1 in the rankings by any man or woman. It also already contained a Summer Olympics medal, from 2008, but it was a bronze — and he has made clear that simply was not sufficient.
Until he got past bronze medalist Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in the semifinals Friday, Djokovic was 0-3 in that round at the Games. He lost to the eventual gold winner each time: Rafael Nadal at Beijing in 2008, Andy Murray at London in 2012, and Alexander Zverev in Tokyo three years ago.
In Paris, wearing a gray sleeve over the right knee that required surgery for a torn meniscus two months ago, Djokovic faced Nadal in the second round and eliminated his longtime rival in straight sets. Now Djokovic is the oldest man to win the singles gold in his sport since 1908 — and prevented Spain's Alcaraz, who is 21, from becoming the youngest.
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KKR defeat LSG via Super Over
Lucknow (PTI): Kolkata Knight Riders edged Lucknow Super Giants via Super Overs in a battle between two bottom-placed teams in the IPL, here on Sunday.
Chasing a modest 156, LSG suffered a batting collapse and managed to tie the contest and take it to Super Over with No. 9 Mohammed Shami striking a last-ball six against a wayward Kartik Tyagi, who leaked 16 runs in the final over.
But Sunil Narine bowled a stunning Super Over conceding just one run and taking two wickets to give KKR an easy target.
Rinku Singh then finished the chase with a boundary off first ball from Prince Yadav.
Earlier the KKR were in deep trouble with 93/7 in 15 overs but Rinku smashed a sensational 83 not out from 51 balls including four sixes in a row in the final over to lift them to 155/7.
Cameron Green (34) was the only other batter to reach double-digit scores as KKR suffered a familiar batting meltdown with Mohsin taking his maiden fifer.
In reply, LSG continued their dismal show with the bat to succumb to their fifth loss in a row.
Brief Scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 155/7; 20 overs (Rinku Singh 83 not out, Cameron Green 34; Mohsin Khan 5/23). Lucknow Super Giants 155/8; 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 42). KKR won via Super Over.
