Alcaraz won the U.S. Open last year in thrilling, acrobatic fashion, serving notice that men’s tennis was going to be shaken up by an unusual talent.
This year, he withdrew from the Australian Open to nurse an injury and was defeated by Djokovic in the semifinals at the French Open.
But the buzz around him and his future never diminished.
A new dawn in male Tennis championship occured on Sunday night, July 16 as Carlos Alcaraz ended Novak Djokovic’s long reign at Wimbledon with a stunning 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 victory to win the All England Club title for the first time on Sunday.
The 20 year old Spaniard looked to be on his way to victory when he recovered from a nervous start to take a two-sets-to-one lead, only for Djokovic to show amazing resilience and fight back up.
At the start of the fifth set, Djokovic was going up until Alcaraz fought to claim victory after four hours and 42 minutes, finally landing a meaningful blow for his mentor 16 years his senior.
After Djokovic’s final forehand dropped into the net, Alcaraz slumped to the court elated at his new status as the king of male Tennis.
Alcaraz, who has added Wimbledon to his US Open title, said: ‘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 great for the new generation,’ Alcaraz said, ‘to see me beating him and making them think that they are capable to do it.’
Down after the first set and struggling simply to avoid embarrassment, Alcaraz rediscovered his unique combination of speed, power and touch and figured out the subtleties of grass-court tennis in the nick of time.
He clawed his way back into the match in an epic, 85-minute second set in which he was a point away from what figured to be an insurmountable two-set deficit.
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).
Alcaraz is the second to defeat Djokovic in a five-sets Grand Slam final after Andy Murray at the US Open 2012.
Alcaraz is the first player to defeat Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon since Tomas Berdych in quarter-finals 2017, 2195 days ago by retirement.
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.
Meanwhile, 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.’
Last month, Djokovic, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, finally eclipsed his longtime rivals, Nadal and Federer.
But this loss cost him a shot at one of the few prizes he has not achieved — becoming the first player since 1969 to achieve the Grand Slam in men’s singles, winning all four major tournaments in a single year. He was within one match of pulling off the feat two years ago.
This time, at 36 years old, an age when most champions have retired to the broadcast booth, he was eight matches away.
