Less than 40 days after undergoing knee surgery, Nole was playing in his 10th Wimbledon Final.
Carlos Alcaraz, who was the defending champion, successfully defended his title, beating seven-time former winner Novak Djokovic in two hours and 27 minutes, 6–2, 6-2, 7–6 (4).
The third-seeded Spaniard raced to two-set lead against the Serbian star in Wimbledon final. He made a brilliant start to the Sunday’s championship match. After breaking Djokovic twice in the first set, Alcaraz also repeated the feat in the second.
The third set was more competitive. The Spaniard broke first again, but this time Novak responded after saving three consecutive match points. However, Alcaraz played great in the tie-break and sealed the well-deserved triumph.
It was the second consecutive SW19 final between the two players.
“Obviously it is not the result that I wanted and especially in the first couple of sets, the level of tennis wasn’t up to par, really, from my side,” said Djokovic at the trophy ceremony. “But credit to Carlos for playing some complete tennis. From the back of the court, on serve, he had it all today. I tried to push him and saved the three match points, extended the match a little bit, but it wasn’t meant to be really. He was an absolutely deserved winner today, so congratulations to him for amazing tennis.”
Match statistics: aces (8-5), double faults (4-6), winners (26-42), unforced errors (25-24), total points won (87-109).
Graceful in defeat, Djokovic shared a smile and warm embrace with Alcaraz at the net after the defeat.
Novak was bidding for men’s record-equalling eighth Wimbledon title.
Photo: Profimedia
