‘Absolute nightmare’: Carlos Alcaraz’s final act silences Wimbledon

In front of Princess Kate Middleton, Carlos Alcaraz announced himself as tennis’ new undisputed king - ending Novak Djokovic’s reign.

Carlos Alcaraz, still just 21 and familiaring himself with all the protocols of grand slam deciders, suggested to Novak Djokovic he lead them out to centre court ahead of Sunday night’s Wimbledon final.

“I don’t know what the rules are,” the young Spaniard said, as the combatants shared a laugh.

It ended up being the only moment the 24-time grand slam winner found himself in front as Alcaraz secured back-to-back Wimbledon titles with a 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7-4) annihilation.

In front of Princess Kate Middleton, Alcaraz firmly announced himself as tennis’ new undisputed king by becoming just the sixth man to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year.

Playing what Djokovic described during his on-court interview as “complete tennis”, the Spanish third seed swept aside the sport’s greatest ever player.

Alcaraz produced a performance combining awesome power with delicate touch to hand Djokovic the second worst slam final beating of his career. Only Rafael Nadal, in a 6-0 6-2 7-5 thrashing in the 2020 French Open decider, has punished Djokovic this badly.

“He was a better player. That’s it. He played every single shot better than I did,” Djokovic said.

“He wasn’t allowing me to have free points on my serve. He played with a lot of variety. I’ve never seen him serve that way. 136 (miles per hour). I’ve never seen him serve that fast.

“He really outplayed me… he was better than me in every aspect of the game.”

Alcaraz collected the fourth slam of his young career and equalled the Open Era record for most majors won at the age 21 or under, joining Boris Becker, Bjorn Borg and Mats Wilander.

He is indeed on the fast track to greatness.

Carlos Alcaraz celebrates after winning the match. Picture: Henry Nicholls/AFP

The match would have been over even quicker if not for a brief hiccup at the end of the third set.

Alcaraz had some of Djokovic’s biggest fans wailing on social media as he secured triple championship point at 6-2 6-2 5-4 and 40-0 - having not been broken all match.

“This is an absolute nightmare,” one wrote. “What’s wrong with Novak Djokovic?”

But the moment suddenly got too big and Alcaraz double faulted and then lost the next four points in what John McEnroe described in commentary for ESPN as a “major flinch”.

That’s all it was though, a flinch. Despite raising his game to a much more competitive level in the tiebreaker, Djokovic still found himself on the losing end of the biggest points in a clear changing of the guard moment.

“The level of tennis wasn’t up to par from my side,” Djokovic said.

The veteran took solace in the knowledge he was just five weeks removed from surgery on his right knee and was playing in his 10th Wimbledon final and 37th at the 75 majors in which he has played.

But a 25th slam - which would snap the mark he shares with Australia’s Margaret Court - and an eighth Wimbledon crown - which would have seen him tie Roger Federer for the record - are beginning to look beyond him.

The first two sets exposed Djokovic for the player he has been in 2024, where he’s yet to defeat a top 10 opponent.

The Serb conceded he’s not on the same level as Alcaraz or world number one Jannik Sinner this year.

“In order to really have a chance to beat these guys in the grand alam latter stages or Olympics, I’m gonna have to play much better than I did today and feel much better than I did today,” he said post-match.

“It’s not something I haven’t experienced before in my life ... in the face of adversity, normally I rise, learn and get stronger. That’s what I’m going to do.”

Marathon opening game set the tone

There were few moments of joy for Novak Djokovic. Picture: Ben Stansall/AFP

Alcaraz immediately put the Djokovic serve under the microscope in a marathon 13-minute 20-point opening game.

It took him five break point opportunities but the Spaniard finally cracked the Serb to seize an early advantage.

Andy Roddick, no stranger to a Wimbledon final, spotted Djokovic’s initial tactical approach, tweeting he was “shortening points out of the gate”, including serve-and-volleying and taking the ball early.

But you could argue it backfired.

Djokovic won just two of his first 10 net points and was broken again in the fifth game of the set to fall behind 4-1.

Alcaraz had been slow out of the blocks in several matches this tournament - losing the first set in matches against Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul and Daniil Medvedev - but he was positively scorching while claiming this one 6-2.

Flood of Djokovic excuses as Alcaraz maintains rage

Alcaraz backed up a blistering first set by breaking early in the second - and many scribes were ready to write Djokovic’s eulogy.

“Real talk, this match being a rout makes the most logical sense of all possible outcomes,” tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg tweeted.

“Djokovic had knee surgery last month, hasn’t beaten a top 10 player all year, and this is his first final of the year.”

“It’s early …. But so far it looks like a defending champ in form, taking on a 37-year-old man 40 days removed from knee surgery,” added Jon Wertheim.

“He’s getting manhandled from the back of the court,” John McEnroe said on ESPN.

“Everything is off,” Darren Cahill added.

Djokovic kept making uncharacteristic errors at the net and handed Alcaraz a double break with a double fault to cough up another set 6-2.

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are creating more history. Pictures: AFP

‘Major flinch’ before Alcaraz secures back to back titles

No man in the Open Era had ever won the Wimbledon final after dropping the first two sets and Djokovic missed an opportunity to change the course of this match.

The Serb had barely put any pressure on the Alcaraz serve but dragged him into a deuce game early in the third set.

But again there was no reward and the pressure immediately transferred as Djokovic gifted Alcaraz a break point opportunity with a weakly-hit drop shot that didn’t make it over the net.

In what felt like a final stand, Djokovic fought off four break points to keep the set on serve at 2-1.

Djokovic pushed really hard at the Alcaraz serve again in the sixth game. But the break point he earned was an unplayable service winner down the tee and Alcaraz remained perfect.

Alcaraz lost only one point in the ninth game to break Djokovic’s serve for the fifth time in the match to move within four points of the championship.

Then came the aforementioned meltdown, but the tiebreaker that followed gave the star-studded crowd the grandstand tennis it had expected to see all match.

Alcaraz missed an easy opportunity to grab a mini-break on the first point but recovered to snatch a 3-1 lead.

Djokovic fought back to 3-3 at the first change of ends but again Alcaraz forged ahead to lead 5-3. And he did not waste his fourth championship point to secure the title.

Originally published as ‘Absolute nightmare’: Carlos Alcaraz’s final act silences Wimbledon