Carlos Alcaraz, ranked No. 1 in the world, ended Novak Djokovic’s long reign at Wimbledon with a stunning 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 victory on Sunday. This marked the beginning of a new era in men’s tennis.
He came out on top for his first Wimbledon championship and ended Novak Djokovic’s expectations of a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam.
When the young Spaniard overcame a nervous start to take a two-set lead over Djokovic, he appeared to be on his way to victory. However, Djokovic proved once more his remarkable resilience.
He showed up in the domination toward the beginning of the fifth set, but the 20-year-old Alcaraz came back to guarantee triumph after four hours and 43 minutes, finally landing a meaningful blow for the young guns against the man 16 years his senior.
After Djokovic’s final forehand hit the net, Alcaraz fell to the court and gave the victorious Serb a long embrace.
Alcaraz, who won Wimbledon in addition to the US Open, stated:
“Well it’s a dream come true for me. It’s great to win but even if I had lost I would have been really proud of myself, playing a final against a legend of our sport.
“After the first set I thought ‘hmmm… Carlos increase the level’. I have to congratulate Novak. I started playing tennis watching you. When I was born you were already winning tournaments. But 36 is the new 26. It’s amazing.”
“It’s special to play here in front of royalty. I am really proud you are here supporting me. You’ve come to watch me twice and I won, so I hope you come some more.”
Meanwhile, Spain’s King Felipe was in the royal box supporting his country’s new star.
Andy Murray Says, He Has No Plans To Retire Now
In an effort to win his eighth All England Club title and his fifth in a row, Djokovic won the opening set 6-1 in 34 minutes.
Alcaraz could not keep up with Djokovic’s tactical awareness, as the Serb made only two unforced errors to take the match early on.
At the beginning of the second set, the Spaniard broke Djokovic’s serve to take the lead, 2-0.
However, Djokovic, who was competing in his 35th Grand Slam final, broke back immediately, and a highly competitive set ended in a tiebreak.
The 36-year-old had won his past 14 tie-breaks at Grand Slam, but Alcaraz at long last stopped the streak by taking it 8-6 with a shocking return of effectively leveling the match.
At the beginning of the third set, Alcaraz broke again, and Djokovic complained to the umpire, Fergus Murphy, about a disputed let call.
When he had a lengthy mid-game conversation with the umpire, the defending champion, who was given a time violation in the tie-break, was booed by some of the crowd.
Alcaraz broke again following an incredible 26-minute game with his seventh break point and a third split wrapped up the set 6-1 as the match ticked towards three hours.
Djokovic took a lengthy washroom break at the changeover and reappeared to additional scoffs from the group.
It appeared to get the job done, however, as at 2-2 in the fourth he molded two break focuses, requiring the subsequent when Alcaraz’s drop shot hit the net.
Djokovic finally had some energy and took the fourth set to send the match into a choosing fifth-set shoot-out.
When he slammed what appeared to be a sure goal into the net in the fifth, he wasted a break point that would have made it 2-0.
In the subsequent match, Djokovic hit his racket into the wooden net post after Alcaraz forced a break.
Djokovic’s rule was over after Alcaraz served out for a staggering triumph to be crowned the new King of Wimbledon.
The 20-year-old kicked a ball into the crowd in celebration before climbing up to the players’ box to enjoy the moment with his team.
Carlos Alcaraz is the first player to defeat three top-10 opponents en route to secure the men’s singles title at the Championships since Pete Sampras in 1994 (Michael Chang, Todd Martin and Goran Ivanisevic).
The Spaniard is the second to defeat Djokovic in a five-sets Grand Slam final after Andy Murray at the US Open 2012.
He is the first player to defeat Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon since Tomas Berdych in quarter-finals 2017, 2,195 days ago by retirement.
Carlos Alcaraz Beat Jarry In An Exciting Wimbledon Thriller
Lleyton Hewitt in 2002, 21 years ago, was the last man to win the Wimbledon singles who was not from the quartet of Dvokovic, Federer, Murray or Nadal.
Aged 20 years 72 days, Alcaraz becomes the third youngest player in the Open era to win the Wimbledon men’s singles title – after Boris Becker (who won his first two Wimbledon titles aged 17 years 227 days in 1985 and aged 18 years 226 days in 1986) and Bjorn Borg (who won his first Wimbledon title aged 20 years 27 days).
Then again, Djokovic, who was beaten on Centre Court for the first time in 10 years, said to the crowd: “Good afternoon. Not so good for me but good for Carlos.
“I have to praise Carlos and his team. Quality at the end of the match, you served it out and you deserved it. I thought I’d only have trouble with you on clay or hard court, not on grass. Amazing, what you did in Queen’s and here.
“As for me you never like to lose matches like this but when all the emotions have settled I still have to be very grateful. I’ve won many close matches here down the years, maybe I should have lost a couple of finals that I won so it’s ‘even stevens’.
“It’s a tough one to swallow when you are so close. I lost to the better player and I have to congratulate him and move on.”
Djokovic welled up when he saw his son Stefan and said: “Thank you for supporting me.”
