For most, Carlos Alcaraz is rightfully seen as The Next Big Thing in men's tennis. The Spanish superstar already has four Grand Slam titles to his name, and he's only 21 years old. But even he can't beat an all-time legend like Novak Djokovic, who was hellbent on achieving his greatest goal.

Sunday saw Alcaraz get taken to school by an experienced Djokovic in the men's gold medal singles final in Paris. For Djokovic, it's one of the crowning moments of his career, especially in taking apart a young phenom like Alcaraz to do it. For Alcaraz, he was the youngest man in the men's Olympic final in over a century, and it's a great accomplishment to attain silver.

But it still hurts to fall short for your country when you have a chance at ultimate glory:

After the match, Alcaraz explained why he was moved to tears and why he'll ultimately hold his head high, understanding he'll likely have more opportunities for gold down the line:

That's exactly the right perspective.

Alcaraz is a competitor, so losing is never easy when you reach the doorstep of a new achievement. But there's also no reason to wallow in sadness over what could've been. Recognizing that you gave it your all and still left the Olympics with a medal -- which is no small feat -- still means the world.

Alcaraz's time for Olympic gold will come. For now, he should savor this experience in every possible way.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Carlos Alcaraz explained why he broke down in tears after falling short of Olympic gold to Novak Djokovic