Novak Djokovic cut an emotional figure after putting "everything on the line" to secure gold at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.
The 24-time major champion overcame Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) at Roland-Garros, securing the top prize at the Games for the first time in his career.
Djokovic is only the second player in the Open Era to win all four grand slams, the gold medal at the Olympics and the ATP Tour Finals, along with Andre Agassi.
At 37 years and 74 days, the Serbian is also the oldest player to secure gold in either the men's or women's singles at the Olympics, since the sport returned as an event at the 1988 Games.
Having settled for bronze in Beijing 16 years ago, Djokovic could not believe he had finally sealed a long-awaited dream.
"We almost played three hours in two sets. It was an incredible battle," the 37-year-old said after avenging his Wimbledon final defeat to Alcaraz last month.
"I believed that I could win, but to actually win it; it's unbelievable. He keeps on coming back and keeps on asking me to play my best tennis.
"My first set I started well, I had chances, he had chances as well. It was probably fair to end both sets in a tiebreak. When it mattered I came up with big shots and big moments.
"I put my heart, my body, my soul, my family, my everything on the line here to win the Olympic gold at the age of 37.
"The pride to play for Serbia. Carlos and Rafa [Nadal] love to play for Spain, Andy [Murray] for Britain, Roger [Federer] for Switzerland. You just see the reactions when they win. It's special. It's different."
Alcaraz battled past Djokovic in the Wimbledon final, having also secured French Open glory at the same venue earlier this year.
However, a final stretch proved too far for the Spaniard.
"The truth is it was a very complicated game. Three hours of phenomenal fighting," a downbeat Alcaraz said.
"It's never easy. There were tough moments for me in the tiebreak and I just couldn't get my level up. It's very painful to lose today."
Alcaraz grinds through to help Spain to Davis Cup win
Carlos Alcaraz got a stroke of luck as he helped Spain make a winning start to the Davis Cup Finals group-stage campaign against Czechia as Tomas Machac retired through injury.
The French Open and Wimbledon champion dropped the first set 6-7 (3-7), but rallied to finish the second 6-1, forcing a decider after getting two vital breaks.
However, Machac pulled up in the opening game of the third set with cramp and was unable to carry on after one hour and 41 minutes on the court.
It followed Roberto Bautista's flying start in their opening singles match in Group B as he cruised past Jiri Lehecka 7-6 (7-1) 6-4, with the Czech making 27 unforced errors as he failed to find an edge.
In the doubles, Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers then had to dig deep, coming from behind to beat Adam Pavlasek and Jakub Mensik in three sets to give Spain a 3-0 victory and take them top of the group.
Meanwhile, Great Britain also made a bright start to their campaign in Group D, despite US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper sitting out.
Dan Evans got them started in Manchester with a hard-earned 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 victory over Eero Vasa of Finland, converting both of his break points in the second set.
Billy Harris followed that up with an impressive tournament debut, looking unflappable as he earned the hosts an unattainable lead with his 6-4 7-6 (7-4) win over Otto Virtanen.
Finland got themselves on the board in the doubles though, with Evans and Neal Skupski unable to get the better of Harri Heliovaara and Virtanen ensuring it was only a 2-1 loss.
Elsewhere, the United States joined Germany at the top of Group C with their 3-0 win over Chile and Italy's Matteo Arnaldi held off a spirited Thiago Monteiro to put them in control against Brazil in Group A after Matteo Berrettini's earlier victory.
Ronaldo: 'You cannot rebuild Man United without knowledge'
Cristiano Ronaldo believes Manchester United "cannot rebuild without knowledge" as he urged Erik ten Hag to take advice from assistant coach - and former Red Devils striker - Ruud van Nistelrooy.
United opened the Premier League season with a 1-0 win over Fulham, but then suffered back-to-back defeats against Brighton and Hove Albion and Liverpool.
It is the second time under Ten Hag the Red Devils have lost as many as two of their first three league games in a season (also 2022-23); as many times as in their previous 29 campaigns combined.
United have also scored three goals fewer than their xG suggests they should have so far this term (two goals, 5.2 xG), the biggest such difference for any team in the Premier League.
Ten Hag was recently joined in the dugout by compatriot Van Nistelrooy, who scored 150 in 219 appearances at Old Trafford between 2001 and 2006.
And Ronaldo - the scorer of 145 in 346 games across his two spells - thinks the Red Devils will benefit from the wisdom of people with prior experience and knowledge of the club.
"[As the] Man United manager; you cannot say that you're not going to fight to win the Premier League or Champions League," he told former team-mate Rio Ferdinand on FiveUK.
"You've to say: 'maybe we've not got the potential, but we're going to try'. You have to try!
"If Ten Hag listens to Ruud van Nistelrooy, maybe he can help. He knows the club and the club should listen to the guys who were there [like] Rio, Roy Keane, [Paul] Scholes, Gary Neville, Alex Ferguson. You cannot rebuild a club without knowledge."
United return to action this weekend away at pointless Southampton, against whom they are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League visits since a 1-0 defeat in August 2003.
The Red Devils have also lost just one of their last 30 Premier League matches against promoted sides, winning 15 of their last 17 such games.
Auger Aliassime and Shapovalov help Canada to Davis Cup victory
Felix Auger Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov helped Canada make a winning start to their Davis Cup Finals group-stage campaign, overcoming Argentina in Manchester.
Former Wimbledon semi-finalist Shapovalov got Canada off to a flier in the opening singles match of the Group D encounter, beating Francisco Cerundolo 7-5 6-3 in one hour and 37 minutes.
Cerundolo committed 51 unforced errors in a disjointed display, giving up back-to-back breaks early in the second set as the match slipped away from him after a competitive opener.
Not to be outdone, Auger Aliassime followed up Shapovalov's victory by beating Sebastian Baez 6-3 6-3, keeping his opponent under fierce pressure throughout and converting seven of the 12 break points he forced.
Doubles specialists Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni then beat Shapovalov and Vasek Pospisil in three sets, but that was not enough to deny Canada victory.
Great Britain and Finland are the other two teams in Group D, with Jack Draper leading the hosts' bid to reach the knockout stages in Malaga later this year.
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