SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
Is 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz the best tennis player in the world? Well, he no doubt was on Sunday as he went over four hours to snap 36-year-old Novak Djokovic’s long singles winning streak and claim the Wimbledon championship.
But after the first set played on the grass at center court before a packed in crowd at the All-England Club you had to wonder who’s beating who as down went Alcaraz, 6-1, to put Djokovic’s win streak at 35, but then the throng settled in.
And so did the confident Alcaraz, last year’s winner at the U.S. Open that Djokovic did not play. While the fans began the chants of “Carlos, “Carlos, “Carlos,” the youngster began putting the necessary pieces together to pull out set 2 in a 7-6 tiebreaker he won in six games.
Then it got even more interesting. As Djokovic began slipping and sliding on the rather wet surface, Alcaraz remained in control to win 6-1 and go up two sets to one before it went to set 4 taken by Djokovic, 6-3, and as the fans figured, a set five.
That went to Alcaraz of Spain, 6-4, and he was quickly laid out on his back for celebration time as the crowd stood and roared approval for this magical encounter.
“Didn’t get down, didn’t give up,” said Alcaraz, the third-youngest man to win the grass-court major in the Open era that began in 1968 after Boris Becker and Bjorn Borg. “We made great rallies, great points. It was a long, long match, long sets. It was the mental part that allowed me to stay there.”
Djokovic has played better, but Alcaraz had answers for the key points the experienced Serbian served up. It was a back-and-fourth clash with the crowd often rising to show its support.
Alcaraz became the first man outside the elite quarter of Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Andrew Murray to win Wimbledon since 2020, and to many, this symbiosed a transfer in power in men’s tennis.
“I hadn’t played a player like him ever,” Djokovic said during the award ceremonies when he was awarded the runner-up plaque and Alcaraz the trophy, and that was quite a statement from a guy who competed against Federer and Nadal for so long and in so many remarkable matches.
Added Djokovic, “He’s proven that he’s the best player in the world at this time.”
The age gap between Djokovic and Alcaraz was the widest in a men’s Grand Slam final since 1974, and during the awards ceremony, Djokovic, now reduced to No. 2, wiped away tears.
The only other time they played was in the French Open semifinals on clay last month. That was extraordinary for two sets until Alcaraz cramped up and faded. This time though he had the stamina and the strokes to get past Djokovic – and the belief that he could win.
After Alcaraz made nine unforced errors in the opening set to Djokovic’s two, and showing signs of the nerves that hit him in Paris, things began to shift. At 4-all in the second set, Djokovic slipped on a worn patch behind the baseline under the Royal Box, flinging his racket away as he did.
At the next changeover, Djokovic flexed one leg by bending it over the other, then plopped his left heel on the net for additional stretching. That was when they were heading for a huge tie-breaker.
And that is usually Djokovic time, he had dominated by winning six such set-enders he played at Wimbledon leading up to the final, and 15 in a row in Grand Slamaction.
Unflustered by a warning from chair umpire Fergus Murphy for taking too much time to serve, Djokovic pulled ahead 6-5, a set point. But two netted backhands from Djokovic put Alcaraz within a point of the needed set.
“The backhands would kind of let me down,” Djokovic would day later.
Alcaraz then struck a backhand passing shot winner off the return of a 118 mph serve, holding the force of the follow-through. As people in the stands rose to roar, Alcaraz spun around with his right hand to his ear, soaking in the moment.
“If I had lost that set,” he said, “I probably couldn’t have lifted that trophy and probably could have lost in three sets.”
They were now two hours and two sets in. One set apiece. Now it was a match. It began to feel memorable.
The match went four hours and 21 minutes. The fifth game of the third set might have been worth the high price of admission, in and of itself. Neither man wanted to bend, neither wanted to cede a thing, it was one game, yes, but seemed meaningful.
Alcaraz then went up 4-1 in the fourth set and threw his head back and screamed “Vamos.”
But Djokovic did not go away. He raised his level again to force the deciding fifth set as the crowd applauded. He went into Sunday with a 10-1 record in five-setters at Wimbledon and 35-9 at all majors.
These matches though were all in the past. Alcaraz is the future. Meanwhile, Djokovic would hustle and stretch and slid nearly into the splits to get Alcaraz’ apparent point-ending shots back in ways no one else could.
Thus, if this victory on a windy and cloudy day is any indication, Alcaraz is on his way to achieving quite a bit himself. For Djokovic, it was a good and bad performance. He had several falls, twice on serves, couldn’t keep up at times with Alcaraz, and it was a second Grand Slam title for the youngster from Spain.
