Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz has been proclaimed Wimbledon championthe third “Grand Slam” of the season, which is held on grass in London (UK), beating Serb Novak Djokovic in the final this Sunday 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 each.
Alcaraz was the best in the world, number one, against the best favorite in history. Djokovic, who was looking for his fifth title in a row on London grass, eighth overall and his 24th big, He knelt before the Spaniard, the same one who was crushed by pressure in the Roland Garros semi-finals a month ago.
The Murtian’s progress is endless in just two years as a professional.. Having won his first grass title three weeks ago at Queen’s, the El Palmar player has used his experienced repertoire to beat the Serb’s best start. This time, with nerves of steel, the Spaniard turned the final around despite the reaction of the Serbian giant in an epic fourth quarter.
In the fifth set, and after almost five hours of finals, Alcaraz won his second major tournament since the US Open in 2022. sixth title in 2023 and 12th overall. At the age of 20, the Juan Carlos Ferrero alumnus and world number one defender against number two stopped this year’s champion from Australia and Roland Garros, the “zero” who had to bow to the relay to be held in Alcaraz.
On the center court of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club with movie stars in the stands such as Brad Pitt, Hugh Jackman, Ariana Grande, Andrew Garfield, Tom Hiddleston, Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz the brightness moved to grass, so Spanish tennis celebrated its third men’s winner on London grass after Manolo Santana (1966) and Rafa Nadal (2008 and 2010).
However, there was only a Serbian accent in the first set, as Alcaraz got off to a very uncomfortable start and missed two “breaks” in a row. Although the Murcian enjoyed a smashing ball in the first leg, he didn’t convert it and then missed the two. It took the tennis player from El Palmar half an hour to warm up, shake his nerves, although he had already lost the first set.
The ghost of another nervous breakdown was already roaming the stadium, as happened with Alcaraz against Djokovic in his Roland Garros semi-final, played a month ago. This time it resulted in leg cramps, but the sixth game of this Wimbledon final calmed the box of palmarenos.
By winning it (1-5) and although losing the first set (1-6), Alcaraz changed the dynamic. In the second set, there was no trace of the weak attacking game that he showed in the previous set. The serve was 1:0, and then the opponent interrupted the serve (2:0). However, on the other side of the net is a player who continues to oppose being the best of all time.
In search of my “big” number 24, The man with the most money in history, Djokovic returned the “break” (2-1) and remained calm to save another break option in the fourth game (2-2). Since then, none of them has given the enemy more chances for a breakthrough; sudden sudden death decided the outcome of the set in favor of tightrope walker Alcaraz.
Nole started it off as a breath, standing 0-3 knowing he had won 15 consecutive Grand Slam tiebreaks. But ahead was a precocious child prodigy who equalized and took the score to 5-4 with a breathless center court strike.
The El Palmar man ended that sudden death 8-6 by crushing his opponent with a backhand thanks to an inverted forehand he repeated over and over. Then Alcaraz started having fun, not like in Paris a month ago or in the first set, and eventually the script changed. The Spaniard, not without sweat, took advantage of the decline of the Serb.
The initial “break” of the third set was followed by a second marathon, in the fifth game 25 minutes and a break for the Spaniard until the seventh “break” ball. “Nole”, more physically demanding, delivered a partial and sought solutions to the Murcian storm. The Serb bounced back and returned to his best, hitting back in another long fifth game.
The Jackal surfaced there, but the Murtian did not flinch at the decisive moment. The fifth set was the icing on the cake for the stellar match everyone had been waiting for, the two best tennis players of the moment in a tough exchange. Alcaraz with his drop-shot to the end again drove away the memories of Roland Garros and achieved a “break” in the third game when Djokovic ripped the racket with the net.
The serve worked for the Spaniard, albeit with a second serve, and in a physical, mental and tennis battle, the young prodigy from El Palmar defeated the tennis and Wimbledon legend whoHe went 10 years without losing a game for the English central club. In his fourth tournament on grass, in his first final at the All England Tennis Club Alcaraz conquered the cathedral to increase his dizzying career.