Alcaraz triumphs over Djokovic to retain Wimbledon crown

LONDON:

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz produced an utterly ruthless display to dismantle Serbia’s Novak Djokovic 6-2 6-2 7-6(4) in a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon final to successfully defend his title on Sunday.

Alcaraz now has four Grand Slam trophies with a perfect record in major finals, following his two Wimbledon triumphs, his 2022 US Open victory and his French Open victory last month.

The loss deprived Djokovic of a 25th Grand Slam title to overtake Margaret Court on the all-time list and also equal Switzerland’s Roger Federer with eight men’s singles titles at Wimbledon.

“It’s a dream for me, to win this trophy,” said Alcaraz, who became the ninth man to retain his Wimbledon title in the professional era.

“I said in an interview when I was 11 or 12 that my dream was to win Wimbledon, so I’m repeating my dream. I want to keep going, but it’s a great feeling to play on this beautiful court and lift this amazing trophy.

“This is the most beautiful tournament, the most beautiful stadium and the most beautiful trophy.”

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The victory made him the sixth man in the professional era to claim the Roland Garros and Wimbledon titles in the same year, joining Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Rafa Nadal, Federer and Djokovic.

“It’s a huge honor for me to be part of these players who have won Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year. They are huge champions,” said Alcaraz.

“I don’t consider myself a champion yet, not like them, but I will continue to build my path, my journey.”

Alcaraz stormed to his fifth break point in a tight opening game that lasted 14 minutes as Djokovic’s usually impenetrable defense was breached early on a sunny Center Court.

The 21-year-old third seed dropped the hammer from there and cruised through the first set on the back of a solid serve, leaving Djokovic with a mountain to climb.

The second-seeded Djokovic came under more pressure at the start of the next set as Alcaraz bullied the 37-year-old in the early exchanges and capitalized on his serve woes for a commanding two-set lead.

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz consoles Serbia’s Novak Djokovic after winning the men’s singles final. PHOTO: REUTERS

Djokovic and Alcaraz went toe-to-toe at 4-4 in the third set before the Spaniard broke through with a big backhand winner to lead 5-4 as the Center crowd felt an early finish.

However, despite racing to 40-0 with some superb tennis, he lost three match points and dropped serve as the fans rose to their feet to boo Djokovic.

However, there was to be no comeback as Alcaraz held his nerve to claim victory in the tiebreak some 20 minutes later when Djokovic crashed into the net.

“Obviously not the result I wanted and especially in the first two sets, the level of tennis was not up to par from my side,” Djokovic said.

“But credit to Carlos for playing complete tennis. From the back of the court, on the serve, he had it all today. I tried to push him and I saved the three match points, extended the match a bit, but it wasn’t to be.” it wasn’t really meant to be.

“He was an absolutely deserving winner today. Congratulations to him for some amazing tennis.”