On Sunday at Wimbledon, under the sun on center court, Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic. 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4) in a one-sided final.
The Spaniard is now 4-0 in the Grand Slam finals. He also won US Open inside 2022Wimbledon last year and Roland-Garros last month.
Alcaraz is only the second man in the Open Era to win his first four consecutive major finals, behind Roger Federer.
From the start, Alcaraz made Djokovic, the seven-time Wimbledon champion, uncomfortable and did not let him return. The Spaniard broke the Serbian in the first game, that was 14 minutes and this set the tone of the match.
“Yes, the first match was incredible,” said Djokovic. “One of the longest first games I’ve ever played.
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
“I think he was coming out of the blocks ready to fight and ready to play his best level straight away, which was not the case last year where I started better, had a comfortable win in the first set.
“Today, from the first point, he was there, he was ready.”
By the time the Serb wanted to start, it was almost the end of the match.
“I tried to fight in the third and come back,” Djokovic said, “saving three match points, really extending the match a little bit. But I think it was inevitable for him to win today because he was just coming out with better tennis. It’s as simple as that.
“Overall, as I felt today on the court against him, I was inferior on the court. That’s it. He was a better player. He played every shot better than me.
“I don’t think I could have done anything more. Try to rise up maybe, yes. Get the crowd involved. That’s what was happening in the third. That got me going a bit.
“Yeah, it also didn’t allow me to have too many free points on my service. He was reading the service. He played with a lot of variety.
I’ve never seen it serve that way, to be honest. 136. Maybe I’m missing something in this tournament, but I’ve never seen him serve so fast. He must have had a very good practice day of service yesterday (smiling).
“Yeah, overall he really outclassed me.”
Alcaraz said it was an amazing feeling to win Wimbledon back-to-back. “Yeah, I mean, it’s great. I’m really proud and very happy about it.”
“Obviously it was a great match for me. Obviously, Novak didn’t play his best in the first two sets, a lot of mistakes. I made the most of it.
“Yes, it’s a great feeling to even think about being the French Open winner and Wimbledon champion in the same year, few players have done it before. It’s unbelievable.
“I try to understand that I’ve won Wimbledon twice and feel that it was the same feeling as last year.”
IN 21 years and 70 day, Alcaraz is the youngest Open Era player to achieve the Roland-Garros/Wimbledon double in the same year.
“Well, obviously I’ve seen and heard all the statistics that I’m the youngest to win Roland-Garros and Wimbledon in the same year, to win whatever.
“Honestly, I try not to think about it too much. Obviously, it’s a great start to my career, but I have to move on. I have to keep making my way.
“At the end of my career, I want to sit at the same table with the big boys. This is my main goal. This is my dream now. It doesn’t matter if I won four Grand Slams at my age 21. If I don’t continue, all these tournaments for me, don’t matter.
“I really want to move on. I will try to keep winning and finish my career with a lot of them.”
