On Sunday, Carlos Alcaraz won his first Wimbledon by defeating Serbian Novak Djokovic in five sets 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, thus depriving the Serb of the absolute record of titles in grand slam. At 20, the Spaniard thus won his second grand slam title after the US Open 2022. He deprived Djokovic of an eighth trophy at Wimbledon which would have allowed him to equal the absolute record of 24 grand slam titles held by Margaret Court.
Djokovic was unbeaten on Center Court at Wimbledon for ten years and his final loss to Andy Murray in 2013. He was unbeaten at Wimbledon since his quarter-final loss in 2017 and so Alcaraz ended a 34-match winning streak consecutive. Sunday, the game was not always of a very high level. The stunning exchanges were punctuated by too many unforced errors on both sides (40 for Djokovic and 45 for Alcaraz).
But, unlike the Roland-Garros semi-final where Alcaraz had given up after two sets due to cramps, the indecision of the Wimbledon final lasted until the end of the fifth set, after four hours forty-two of game.
Djokovic immediately showed his opponent who was boss. The Serb only had one break point to save, in the very first game of the game, and then was imperial on his face-off. While taking Alcaraz’s serve twice, unable to find the right rhythm. The Spaniard tried to find support in his box, counting on the advice of his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero. After this ghostly first round, with some good points and the support of the public, Alcaraz returned to the game. He made the entry break in the second set and became a conqueror again.
But Djokovic equalized at 2-2 and the players came to the tie-break, where Alcaraz prevailed and thus ended Djokovic’s record streak of 14 Grand Slam tiebreaks in a row. The Serb then went through a big slack in the third set and it was he who was completely overwhelmed. As often when he feels the situation slipping away from him, Djokovic left the court at the end of the third set.
Lost in his game and in his head, he made bad decisions, including without playing: like when he stopped a rally by requesting video refereeing on a ball he deemed too long and which in reality was clearly on the line.
But, on his return, Djokovic was again much more incisive and enterprising. He broke to lead 3-2 and offered himself three set points on Alcaraz’s serve at 5-3. The Spaniard offered him the round on a double fault. Djokovic thus started the deciding set on his serve to race in the lead. Not long since Alcaraz succeeded in breaking a backhand passing to lead 2-1 and confirmed with an ace (3-1). He kept his face-off until the end without ever conceding a break point.
