2024-07-31 14:09:42
London: Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz defeated Serbian star Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4) to win his second consecutive Wimbledon and fourth Grand Slam title at the age of 21. It was a repeat of last year’s final match on the grass court of the All England Club in which Alcaraz defeated Djokovic in five sets. Sunday’s final played on the Center Court was quite easy for Alcaraz, with Britain’s Princess of Wales Kate Middleton, who is undergoing cancer treatment, also in the audience. Alcaraz faltered only when serving for victory at 5-4 in the third set, while holding three match points. But he composed himself and won his second consecutive Grand Slam trophy after his victory at the French Open last month. The Spaniard won his first Slam title as a teenager at the 2022 US Open. No player has won more Grand Slam titles than him before turning 22. This improved his record to 4-0 in major finals.
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On the other hand, 37-year-old Djokovic missed his eighth Wimbledon and 25th Grand Slam title. He was wearing a bandage on his operated knee. He suffered a knee injury at Roland Garros on June 3 and underwent surgery two days later. Even after nearly six weeks, Djokovic did not look in form on Sunday. Djokovic’s both children were in the ‘guest box’. He said, “My level of play was not good in the first two sets. Today everything was in his favor. I tried to beat him. But it could not happen.”
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Alcaraz was 5-4 up in the third set. He was 40-love up but the opportunity slipped away. He double faulted and lost his first championship point. This started a streak of five mistakes that saw Djokovic win the game. Alcaraz missed a backhand, a forehand volley, a forehand, and another forehand.
Djokovic accepted defeat in three sets
Djokovic broke Alcaraz’s serve for the only time in the entire match. Then the score became five-all which left Alcaraz looking upset and Djokovic hoping for a comeback. But in the tiebreaker, Alcaraz got his fourth match point and kept as cool as he could. And soon he was seen climbing the stands to hug his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero and others. The match ended in less than two and a half hours. The opening game was expected to be a long and up-and-down match. But Alcaraz won the first two sets 6-2, making the third set the most competitive of the match.
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Djokovic lost two break points in the first set through a double fault. Then he volleyed into the net at the start of the second set and finally lost it through a double-fault. The young Alcaraz played brilliantly against the older Djokovic, playing shots that no one could have even tried. Two days before the final, Djokovic praised Alcaraz. He said, ‘I see a lot of similarities between him and me and I am saying this on the basis of the ability to adapt to the court. He has the skill to adapt to play on any court. He is a very competitive player.’