Carlos Alcaraz reacts after defeating Novak Djokovic in the men’s Wimbledon final at the All England Club in London on Sunday (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Last year, Carlos Alcaraz defeated Novak Djokovic to win his first Wimbledon title.
This year, Alcaraz’s ascension to the throne was complete when he defeated Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4) in a rematch of last year’s epic five-set match to win his second consecutive Wimbledon title, marking just the fifth time in his career that Djokovic has lost in straight sets in a final.
Djokovic struggled from the very start of the match and throughout the first two and a half sets. He was out of form and played incredibly nervous. He was not himself. And Alcaraz, who usually starts slowly, got off to a strong start, putting Djokovic behind 2-0 before most of the fans had settled in. No one expected the legend to start so quietly and fall short so quickly.
Every point was a chance to see if Djokovic would wake up and realize, “Hey, I’m in the Wimbledon final,” but every time it happened, the fans were disappointed. You can’t tell with the naked eye if he’s improving. And Alcaraz was relentless. He was there to win, and Djokovic had reason to be confident, since he was winning points mostly off of Alcaraz’s mistakes.
Djokovic lost the first set 6-2 and the second was much the same, and without a major comeback he would have lost.
The third set was when Djokovic finally got going, actually winning the first game and starting to let Alcaraz catch up, but the awakening came a little too late, as Alcaraz was able to catch up well enough with Djokovic, who at 37 was bidding to become the oldest player ever to win Wimbledon.
Djokovic had chances to extend the match and take it to a tiebreaker, but couldn’t pull off the win. He looked frustrated that his shots weren’t working as they usually do, he looked tired, and even when the tiebreaker started, he seemed to just be biding his time until Alcaraz won.
Djokovic’s main enemy in recent years has been time. He’s been fighting an invisible battle with death in tennis, a game he was dominating until recently. A torn meniscus at the French Open hindered him, but it didn’t seem to affect him during the tournament (or during Sunday’s final).
But for perhaps the first time in his long career, Djokovic faced an opponent on Sunday he just couldn’t beat. Alcaraz was too fast, his shots were too hard, his speed on the court was too high. Even if Djokovic had taken the fourth set, he didn’t seem to have the stamina to control the match his way. But Alcaraz, 16 years Djokovic’s junior, had the stamina and energy to play two more sets in the tiebreaker.
It’s the fourth Grand Slam title of Alcaraz’s young career, half of which have come on grass courts, even though the 2024 Wimbledon will be just the sixth grass-court tournament he’s ever played.
Years from now, we may look back on this match as the end of one era and the beginning of another, when Alcaraz began his reign by defeating one of the greatest tennis players of all time for the second year in a row. But for now, the questions remain: What was behind Djokovic’s performance on Sunday? Was he injured? Will this affect his Olympic bid?
But there’s no question about Carlos Alcaraz: He’s the future of tennis, and that future is here.
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Carlitos has done it again!
Alcaraz did it! Defeating Djokovic in straight sets to win Wimbledon for the second time in a row
It’s tiebreaker time!
It’s time for a third set tiebreak!
Alcaraz needs to win the tiebreaker to win the championship, and Djokovic must win to send the match to a fourth set.
Just five minutes ago, Carlos Alcaraz was one point away from winning his second consecutive Wimbledon title.
Now he’s trying to stop Novak Djokovic from winning the third set and forcing a fourth.
That’s tennis.
Alcaraz earned three championship points and led 30-30 at one point before double-faulting to give Djokovic the advantage and secure the win.
With the score tied at 5-5 in the third set, Alcaraz was clearly frustrated that he wasn’t able to clinch the win in that game.
You can really see Djokovic’s fighting spirit. The crowd is chanting his name because they don’t want the match to end after just three sets. The only way we can enjoy tennis more is if Djokovic gets back on track.
Djokovic is waking up…
He’s leading 3-2 against Alcaraz in the third set. Can Alcaraz seal the win or will Djokovic get in the way?
Alcaraz gives, Alcaraz takes. After trailing 2-1, Alcaraz played a quick, honest game against Djokovic to tie the score again.
In the third game of the third set, Djokovic is fighting to take his first lead of the entire championship match, while Alcaraz just wants to keep winning comfortably.
The game is unfolding much like the first game of the match, with offense and defense switching sides.
This time Djokovic prevailed and led 2-1 in the third set. Would this be the turning point, or would Alcaraz redouble his efforts and continue to beat Djokovic with relative ease?
Carlos Alcaraz leads Novak Djokovic 2-0
Carlos Alcaraz is one set away from defending his 2023 Wimbledon title, winning the second set 6-2 and putting victory within reach.
It was Djokovic’s best match of the day, and while he’s still down 3-2, we saw a glimpse of the real Djokovic, trying to figure out how to wake up.
Alcaraz double-faulted twice but still won the match to take a 2-0 lead in the second set. He was magical today.
Carlos Alcaraz leads 1-0
After a 14-minute first game, Alcaraz easily won the rest of the set, 6-2, and now leads 1-0.
This is familiar territory for Djokovic. He’s done it before in quarterfinals, semifinals and finals, including against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the 2021 French Open final.
But there may be more to Djokovic’s poor start than meets the eye. Alcaraz isn’t normally a fast starter, but the ease with which he jumped on Djokovic suggests that Djokovic was just really bad today and not just letting his guard down.
Celebrity update: Benedict Cumberbatch spotted in normal clothes and sadly not dressed as Doctor Strange, which would definitely shake up the Wimbledon dress code.
Djokovic is scoring points but is still not playing like Djokovic. He is down 4-1 after two breaks and is in a tough spot, but Alcaraz is minimizing stress with his free throws and going at it with determination.
But Djokovic has played like this so many times before: playing poorly in the first set, then storming back in the second or third, looking like a champion in his prime who joined the party a little late.
Alcaraz has the lead, but there’s still a long way to go in the match. Anything can happen.
After a first game that lasted nearly 15 minutes, Carlos Alcaraz broke Novak Djokovic’s play to take a 1-0 lead in the first set.
The first game of the entire match lasted up to five sets, an undetermined amount of time, but almost 10 minutes. Fasten your seatbelts, grab some snacks and Wimbledon drinks of your choice, this could be a match that goes down in history.
I came to watch the Wimbledon final!
Good morning, tennis fans. It’s time for the best match of Wimbledon 2024: Carlos Alcaraz vs Novak Djokovic. Who will you be rooting for?
