20-year-old Carlos Alcarez has defeated 36-year-old Novak Djokovic to win his first Wimbledon title in a 5-set thriller.
The Spaniard ended Djokovic’s long reign at Wimbledon with a rip-roaring 1-6, 7-6(6) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 victory to win the All England Club title for the first time yesterday, July 16. The 36-year-old had not lost at Wimbledon since 2017 and had not lost on Centre Court in over 10 years before Alcaraz, a player 16 years his junior, claimed the title.
It was a thrilling contest, Alcaraz refused to back down, despite a disappointing first set, but it only seemed to spur him on and the 20-year-old rebounded with force.
A mammoth 26-minute game in the third set epitomised his resilience, and despite already being up a break, Alcaraz did not let up and claimed the game with the 32nd point. It was the first time in 21 years that the competition has not been won by either Djokovic, Roger Federer, or Rafael Nadal.
After the game, it was all too much for Djokovic, who had not lost on Centre Court since losing to Andy Murray in the 2013 final. Novak Djokovic broke down in tears addressing his son in the stands after losing the men’s Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz.
Speaking during an on-court interview, the Serbian said;
“It’s nice to see my son still there still smiling (breaks down slightly in tears as his son applauded). I love you, thank you for supporting me, I will give you a big hug and we can all…love each other.
“I have to start obviously with praises to Carlos to his team – amazing and what a quality at the end of the match, when you had to serve it out you came out with some big serves and some big plays and you deserve it absolutely, congratulations, amazing.
“I thought I would have trouble with you only on clay and maybe on hard court but not on grass, but now…it’s a different story from this year obviously.”
Djokovic, of course, already has achieved greatness, spending more weeks at No. 1 than any man or woman in the half-century history of the computerized rankings and accumulating those 23 Grand Slam triumphs, one more than Rafael Nadal and three more than Roger Federer, the only man with eight Wimbledon titles.
Alcarez who is last year’s U.S. Open champion, still has plenty of chances to chase records with the US Open less than two months away and offering his next opportunity of that 24th major.