CENTRE COURT — Carlos Alcaraz confirmed he is the new king of grass by handing Novak Djokovic his worst ever Wimbledon defeat to retain the title.
Djokovic had been attempting to break the all-time grand slam record by winning his 25th major, but was denied by Alcaraz 6-2, 6-2, 7-6.
The Spaniard has now won four grand slam titles, just the fourth man in Open era history to have done so before the age of 22, joining Rafael Nadal, Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker in an illustrious group.
It also means Djokovic, who had knee surgery after the French Open before returning to action inside a month, has still not won a title in 2024.
Never before in his professional career has he reached the end of July without opening his account for the calendar year.
Alcaraz did not so much surge over the line as stumble over it, Djokovic saving three match points before securing his first break of the entire match.
It forced Alcaraz to a third-set tie-break where Djokovic, who was uncharacteristically sloppy throughout the match, leaked a forehand wide at 3-4 to hand the Spaniard a mini-break.
This time around, there was no double-fault or crowd interference as there had been the first time around, and Djokovic netted the return to hand Alcaraz the title for the second year in a row.
The Serb was trying to equal Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles but was outgunned by Alcaraz 42 winners to 26, and admitted afterwards he had not played his best.
“The level of tennis wasn’t up to par for my side. He had it all today,” Djokovic said.
“I tried to push him, saved three match points and extended the match a little bit but it wasn’t meant to be. He was an absolutely deserved winner today.”
Having won the French Open last month, Alcaraz becomes just the sixth man in the history of the professional game to “do the double” from Roland Garros to Wimbledon: Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Borg and Rod Laver.
“It’s a huge honour to be part of those players who have achieved [that],” Alcaraz said. “Really glad to be in the same table as Novak to do it. Huge champions.
“I don’t consider myself a champion yet. Not as them. But I try to keep going, building my path, my journey. It’s a huge honour for me.”
As well as Alcaraz played, the question everyone will ask is what was wrong with Djokovic. Had he not saved three match points when Alcaraz served at 4-5 in the third set, he would have been dispatched in two hours and eight minutes.
There was hardly a single statistic in which Djokovic led. He only won one rally longer than nine shots over the entire match, hit 25 unforced errors and was broken five times in 14 service games. Alcaraz created 14 break point opportunities while Djokovic had only three.
It was a drubbing the like of which the seven-time champion has never suffered at Wimbledon. In 2008 and 2010 he only won 12 games against Marat Safin and Tomas Berdych, but that was before he had ever won the tournament, before he became the greatest of all-time.
Is this the beginning of the end? It is probably not fair to assess on the basis of this match. He had a kind draw to the reach the final a month after knee surgery and was blown away by the defending champion. But Djokovic’s slump is more than just a post-operative malaise. He has not beaten a top-10 player this year and along with his title drought, this was his first final.
Tim Henman on the BBC called it “an annihilation”. Even Nick Kyrgios, one of Djokovic’s biggest fans, admitted afterwards: “Wow. Love Djokovic, but is this maybe the first time we can say the ‘changing of the guard’?!?”
It very much feels that way. It is up to Djokovic to prove everyone wrong.