Even the characteristically tough Novak Djokovic couldn’t help but shed a tear at the end of the men’s singles final.

The Serbian tennis legend had won all four Grand Slam titles and practically every honor there is in the sport, but the Olympic gold medal was escaping him. He had tried five times to win the gold, failing each time.

That finally changed Sunday.

At the Roland-Garros stadium where he had injured his knee only months earlier, and across the net from the face of tennis’s new guard — 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz — who had defeated him at Wimbledon this summer, the 37-year-old veteran finally struck gold.

Alcaraz did not make it easy for Djokovic, however. The two sets played had to go into a tiebreaker, which was neck and neck the entire way. During the first set, there were 13 unsuccessful break points. The match lasted nearly three hours, an eternity for earning the best two sets out of three.

The crowd was extremely rowdy, with both players visibly frustrated by screams and shouts, and officials repeatedly asked spectators to be quiet.

But Djokovic came out on top, defeating Alcaraz 7(7)-6(3), 7(7)-6(2).

After the match, Djokovic collapsed on the ground. He was shaking and crying, with a towel over his head. He jumped into the crowd to embrace his family. Finally, he was golden.

“I’m overwhelmed with everything I’m feeling right now,” Djokovic said. “Millions of different emotions, of course.”

Djokovic is the oldest player to win the Olympic singles tournament since Great Britain’s Josiah Ritchie in 1908.

“Of course I’ve won everything there is to win probably in my individual career, but winning the Davis Cup, and particularly a golden medal for an Olympic Games for Serbia at the age of 37, is unprecedented,” he said.

With the medal and his four major Grand Slam titles, Djokovic becomes only the fifth player in history to complete the “Golden Slam,” joining Steffi Graf, Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi and Serena Williams.

Djokovic was only 9 when Agassi became the first to complete the Golden Slam. Since then, Djokovic has won 24 Grand Slam titles in his career — the most of any man in history.

Whether Djokovic will pass the baton to the new guard and the likes of Alcaraz isn’t certain, but this win solidifies him in the company of tennis legends.

“I’m telling myself always that I am enough, because I can be very self-critical,” Djokovic said. “That’s probably one of the biggest internal battles that I keep on fighting with myself, that I don’t feel that I’ve done enough — that I have been enough in my life on the court and off the court.”