2023-07-16 00:52:13
“It’s going to be the best moment of my life,” ventured Carlos Alcaraz after qualifying for his first Wimbledon final. “It’s the final that everyone wants, the best final possible,” Novak Djokovic replied. Wimbledon has his wish. If someone had gone person by person at the All England Club asking what game they would like to see this Sunday after three in the afternoon (Spanish time), all, or almost all, would agree with an Alcaraz-Djokovic.
The victory of the Spaniard against Daniil Medvedev and that of the Serbian against Jannik Sinner will lead to the meeting that everyone wanted when cramps ended with the semifinal of both at Roland Garros. That is the most recent precedent, but it has little to do with what will be seen this Sunday on the center court of the All England Club. The circumstances are very different.
Alcaraz was the great favorite in that match at Roland Garros, due to his tour of clay with titles in Barcelona and Madrid, and due to his dominance on the surface, in which he had already beaten the Serbian a year earlier.
Djokovic, despite his vast experience in the semifinals of a major, was covered up by his terrible clay-court season, some hidden discomfort in his elbow, and because that match between the Spaniard and the Serbian in Paris was publicized as the change of command of an entire generation. The battle lasted two sets, until those cramps took over the Murcian, who did not retire, but he played two sets practically unable to move.
«I hope I don’t go out with as much nerves as at Roland Garros. I’ll try to leave all that out, enjoy the moment. At Roland Garros I didn’t do it and I didn’t enjoy anything. I hope I don’t have cramps. I will be better on Sunday,” said the 20-year-old Spanish player, who does not see the Wimbledon final as revenge for Djokovic.
with his psychologist
«This final is a revenge with myself. It’s going to be a personal fight, not wanting the same thing to happen to me, to improve, to do things differently,” said the tennis player from El Palmar. To do this, Alcaraz has decided to follow the same physical plan as in Paris, that is, not train the day before the game. A decision favored by the complicated weather conditions in London, with rain and strong gusts of wind, and different mentally.
“I will try to forget that I am going to play a final against Novak,” added the Spaniard, who will work with his psychologist so that the weight of history does not play a fundamental role in his legs and his racket this Sunday. Even so, this final of the third major of the season cannot be analyzed without taking into account the importance of the records that are at stake.
Djokovic aspires to get his 24th Grand Slam title, two above Rafa Nadal and at the level of Margaret Court, the one with the most in all of history. In addition, he would match Roger Federer’s eight Wimbledons, to one of Martina Navratilova, and would add five consecutive, a record shared with the Swiss and with Bjorn Borg. Just turned 36, he would be the oldest in the ‘open era’ to win at the All England Club.
“I’m not afraid”
For his part, Alcaraz would be the fifth Spaniard to win Wimbledon, after Manolo Santana (1966), Rafa Nadal (2008 and 2010), Conchita Martínez (1995) and Garbiñe Muguruza (2017), and would be the fourth man to have two or more Grand Slams, along with Nadal, Santana and Sergi Bruguera. He would also be the first player not named Djokovic, Federer, Nadal or Murray to win Wimbledon since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002.
The magnitude of the clash is such that the fact that the number one in the world is also at stake has remained in the background. The winner will appear on Monday as the first in the ATP ranking. Either Alcaraz will start his 29th week at the top of the world rankings or he will start Djokovic’s 390th.
«In the great moments and against the great legends, you have to show the best version. I think I belong in this type of situation and we are going to show it. I’m not afraid. I really want to play this game. I always think that I can win and I’m going to go for it,” insisted Alcaraz in the hours before the final of the British Grand Slam.
“It’s going to be a great challenge,” Djokovic clarified. «One of the greatest that I can have right now, on a physical, mental and emotional level. Yes, I have more experience in Grand Slam finals and Wimbledon finals, but he is in great shape, very motivated, and he is very young and very hungry, “acknowledged the Serb in reference to Alcaraz. “I’m very hungry too, so…let’s feast,” the Balkan proclaimed.
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