"This generation can’t beat a 37-year-old Novak Djokovic? Don’t see hunger" - Fans react to Serb beating Lorenzo Musetti to reach maiden Olympic final

Novak Djokovic has reached his maiden final at the prestigious Olympics after brushing aside Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals at the ongoing Paris Games on Friday, August 2. Fans were vociferous in their appreciation for the Serb and criticism of the younger crop of men's tennis players, which is, for the most part, failing to get the better of the 37-year-old.

Djokovic came into his semifinal showdown against Musetti on the back of concerning knee pain he experienced during his quarterfinal win over Stefanos Tsitsipas. However, the 24-time Major winner was moving freely once the semifinal got going. Even though Musetti had a few opportune moments to put himself in the driving seat, it was Djokovic that remained rock-solid when it mattered most.

The Serb will now play for the gold medal in men's singles against Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday, August 4. The Spaniard recently obliterated Djokovic in the 2024 Wimbledon Championships final. Alcaraz is one of the rare few from the younger generation of men's tennis to have seriously troubled the aging Serb over the last couple of years.

In light of Djokovic's resounding victory against 22-year-old Musetti, fans on X (formerly Twitter) poured in with their reactions. One set of fans discussed how the majority of the World No. 2's significantly younger rivals are struggling to get results against him.

"Man this generation can’t beat a 37 year old guy what they play for prize money ?because each time I see them I don’t see hunger in them," a fan wrote.

"Y'all can stop pretending the current field is good fam," commented another fan.

"Love him or hate him, what Nole is doing is extraordinary," another fan wrote.

"The amount of people absolutely furious that Novak Djokovic has reached the final of both the Olympics and Wimbledon while playing on one leg, back-flipping between points and juggling tennis rackets at the change of ends is very very very amusing to me," another fan chimed in.

Another set of fans blatantly criticized Musetti, who was widely expected to test the Serb considering his bold display in the quarterfinals against Alexander Zverev.

"Musetti is pathetic. Never wanna see him near an important match again," wrote a fan.

"Musetti didn't hold serve once after he choked that 40-0 lead when he was 4-5 down in the first set. I don't want to see this match up again. Musetti has no belief that he'll beat Novak and in their matches he's awful on the big points," another fan commented.

"Musetti will remain and “almost achiever” if he continues to play this s**t," yet another fan weighed in.

"I feel better than I did at Wimbledon" - Novak Djokovic optimistic about facing Carlos Alcaraz despite Spaniard's red hot form

Carlos Alcaraz (L) and Novak Djokovic (R) (Source: Getty)

Djokovic was a mere shadow of himself in the Wimbledon 2024 final, as Alcaraz steamrolled the Serb [6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4] to win the prestigious grasscourt Major for the second successive year.

After the Paris Olympics semifinal win over Musetti, Djokovic acknowledged the difficulty of squaring off against the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion. However, the Serb was upbeat about rising up to the challenge, claiming that he is feeling better than he did at SW19.

"Playing Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday in the final is the biggest challenge I can have right now. I feel better than I did at Wimbledon, and am moving better," Djokovic said.

The 2024 Paris Olympics men's singles final will mark the seventh meeting between Djokovic and Alcaraz, the pair is all square at 3-3 on their ATP Tour head-to-head.