This time, Carlos Alcaraz was prepared right away. Alcaraz started off slowly, losing the first set against Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final a year ago. It took him five sets to win his maiden title at the All England Club.
The game that started Sunday’s rematch felt monumental: 20 points in over 15 minutes hinted at an engaging, back-and-forth contest that would go a long time. Both guys had their moments of genius. However, Alcaraz was superior. And for almost the entire next two hours, too.
Alcaraz won 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4) against Djokovic to win a second straight Wimbledon title and his fourth Grand Slam overall. Alcaraz applied the skills he acquired from 2023 to 2024. And to consider: He is only 21 years old.
Alcaraz, who won the French Open last month and is now only the sixth man to win on both the red clay at Roland Garros and the grass at the All England Club in the same season, said, “At the end of my career, I want to sit at the same table as the big guys.” Alcaraz received the gold trophy from Wimbledon from Kate, the Prince of Wales. “That’s my main goal. That’s my dream right now.”
Alcaraz raised his record to 4-0 in major finals, including the 2022 U.S. Open; among men, only Roger Federer started his career with a 7-0 record.
The 37-year-old Djokovic, who had knee surgery less than a month ago, said of Federer, “He just was better than me in every aspect of the game.” Djokovic was aiming to become the first player in tennis history to win 25 Grand Slam events and tie Federer’s men’s record of eight Wimbledon victories. “In movement, in the way he was just striking the ball beautifully, serving great. Everything.”
Alcaraz experienced a single, fleeting glitch during a five-point period that nearly brought him to tears. It occurred when he was serving at 5-4, 40-love, and one point away from the championship. But he made a double error. Then a backhand was missed. Next, a volley. Next, a forehand. And one more forehand. All at once, it was five. Alcaraz suddenly seemed unsettled. Djokovic may feel hope suddenly.
There was intrigue all of a sudden.
but just for a little while. Alcaraz pulled together, reached the decisive vote, and ended the dispute.
Djokovic remembered, “We went toe to toe” last year.
He went on, “This year,” “it was nothing like that. It was all about him. He was the dominant force on the court and deserved to win.”
On a gloomy afternoon at Centre Court, Djokovic was not playing at his best, sporting a gray sleeve on his knee. There’s no doubt that Alcaraz had a significant role in this.
It turns out that up until the third set, the first game was the most competitive part of the match.
Not that there weren’t any signs of anticipation along the road. More so, the conclusion never truly appeared in doubt.
“The first game was incredible. One of the longest first games I’ve ever played,” Djokovic remarked. “That set the tone. He was coming out from the blocks ready to battle and ready to play his best level right away, which wasn’t the case last year.”
In the opening set, Djokovic double-failed, giving up a 5-1 lead. He started the second game with a volley into the net, down by a break, and ended it with a double fault. When Djokovic finally got going in the third, he recorded his first break of serve of the day. Fans screamed his two-syllable moniker, “No-le! No-le!” and others answered in unison, “Let’s go, Carlos! Let’s go!”
However, given that there were real doubts about whether Djokovic would be able to compete at all in Wimbledon, this was not the body-contouring, all-out Djokovic that everyone is used to seeing.
In his matches against Alcaraz, Djokovic would sometimes land awkwardly after serving or take cautious steps in between points, almost like he was barefoot on the warm sand of a beach. When Djokovic got to the net, he only won 27 of the 53 points, missing volleys that he usually makes. Once he closed an early 11-stroke exchange with a volley, Djokovic sighed and made his way to his sideline seat to get a purple-and-green towel to wipe away perspiration. It seemed to be saying, “Come on, Carlitos, pick on someone your own age,” on his face.
Alcaraz excelled in almost every aspect, ranging from simple shots to those that others would never attempt. Although Djokovic did put an overhead shot away to earn that point, he once jumped and wrapped his racket all the way around his back to get the ball over the net. Forehand winners, Alcaraz missed the doubles alley by a considerable margin. points obtained with drop shots. Serves with a maximum velocity of 136 mph (219 kph). 14 break points total—five of which were converted—while facing just three.
Alcaraz received a lot of praise from Djokovic two days prior to the championship match when he said, “I see a lot of similarities between me and him.”
Indeed. And keep in mind that Alcaraz is only getting started.
Alcaraz declared, “I want to keep going.”
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