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Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams' former coach, shared his thoughts on what motivated Novak Djokovic to win the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. According to him, the Serb was driven by the resurgence of Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic embarked on a redemption tour in Paris, aiming to overcome the disappointments of the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he narrowly missed out on a medal. This time, he was successful in adding a gold medal to his previous bronze (won in Beijing) in the French capital.
On his way to the podium, the Serb defeated the likes of Australia's Matthew Ebden, Spain's Rafael Nadal, Germany's Dominik Koepfer, Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas, Italy's Lorenzo Musetti, and another Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz.
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On August 13, Patrick Mouratoglou took to Instagram to decode Novak Djokovic’s motivation during the Olympics. He pointed to Rafael Nadal’s comeback as a key factor and also suggested that the strong form of World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz may have sparked the 24-time Grand Slam champion's competitive fire and driven him to succeed.
"I think he [Novak Djokovic] really struggled with motivation until the Olympics," Mouratoglou said. "Everyone felt like it was the end for Rafa [Nadal], Novak felt it too. For sure, it hit his motivation really hard. But after that, Rafa came back on clay, his level was good and I think this gave extra motivation to Novak."
"[Jannik] Sinner started to play great, [Carlos] Alcaraz again, I think it touched his ego and he came back really strong and finally won the title that he was chasing for all his career, which was a gold medal at the Olympics to complete his collection of trophies," the Frenchman added.
"Novak Djokovic is ready to compete 2, 3, 4 years at the highest level" - Patrick Mouratoglou
Patrick Mouratoglou highlighted that Novak Djokovic is in "great shape" and playing "unbelievable" tennis, suggesting he could extend his career by two to four more years.
"So what's going to happen now in the future? He [Novak Djokovic] is in a great shape, he plays unbelievable tennis. He is ready to compete I think 2, 3, 4 years at the highest level," Mouratoglou said.
The Frenchman also observed that the Serb drew motivation from his rivalry with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Now, according to him, the rising competition from Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz is pushing the 24-time Grand Slam champion to reach new levels.
"But he needed this competition between him and Roger [Federer], Rafa [Nadal] to be the greatest. The only confrontation he can have now is probably Carlos and Jannik pushing him, beating him, him feeling his ego touched and wanting to show that he is still great," Mouratoglou said.
Djokovic will next compete at the US Open, where he is the defending champion. The final Major of the year runs from August 26 to September 8.
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