The US Open is nearly underway with Olympic champion Novak Djokovic aiming to defend his title and win a historic 25th grand slam.
It was barely a month ago when Djokovic ousted Carlos Alcaraz in the Olympic final in Paris with just two tiebreaks the difference between the two champions.
Since, the narrative has swiftly moved on with the relentless American hard court season already well underway.
Between the two Olympic finalists, only Alcaraz has played a match since Paris, with Djokovic electing to skip the US Open warm-up tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati.
With the on-court emotions high and at opposite ends after the Olympic final, a distraught Alcaraz buried his head in his hands as Djokovic draped himself in Serbian colours.
Carlos Alcaraz is content with silver but craves Olympic gold
Alcaraz may well be embarking on the same taxing and brutal Olympic journey that Djokovic has only just finished.
While the Serb never got so close as silver before, the Olympic gold was the last thing he wanted; felt he needed to retire without regret.
Asked about his thoughts on the Olympics a few weeks on, Alcaraz reflected: “It was one of the most important finals of my career and my life. I know the Olympics is once every four years. I don’t know if I am going to have another chance to win the gold.
“I am going to fight for it, for sure, at the next Olympic Games but it was a difficult moment to deal with for me losing the gold medal in a really close match where I had opportunities. But in front of me I had a really good player fighting for the same thing as me and he deserved it.
With perhaps some perspective gathered, Alcaraz continued: “After the Olympics I realised that I won the silver medal and it was a great achievement for me that I have to be proud of and I have to keep going and learn about this match, so in the next finals and the important matches in my career I am going to deal with in a different way or a better way than I did at the Olympics but I have realised it was an important moment of my life.”
When could Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic meet at the US Open?
With Jannik Sinner the top seed, Djokovic and Alcaraz fell into second and third, with all three hotly tipped for the title.
Alcaraz is set to kick off his campaign against Australian qualifier Li Tu, while Djokovic faces Moldovan veteran Radu Albot who came through a hat trick of three-set matches to reach the main draw.
On opposite sides of the draw, Alcaraz and Djokovic can only possibly meet in the final, which would have included a semi-final match possibly against Sinner.
Last year’s semi-final defeat to Daniil Medvedev saw the tennis world miss out on the much anticipated 2023 Wimbledon final rematch between Alcaraz and Djokovic.
With relatively favourable draws each however, the possibility of a third final meeting within two months feels, at least narrative wise, somewhat likely.
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