Carlos Alcaras (1st, Spain) smiled in the “Fight of the Century” against Novak Djokovic (2nd, Serbia) and held his first Wimbledon tennis trophy.
Alcaras beat Djokovic 3-2 (1-6 7-6 <8-6> 6-1 3-6 6-4) in the men’s singles final at the All England Club in London on the 16th (local time).
The 20-year-old Alkaras, who is considered the leader among the next generation runners, became the youngest ever to rank No. 1 in the world rankings, and crowned as the “new emperor” of men’s tennis by beating Djokovic, who holds the record for the most wins (23 times) in major tournaments.
It is the first time in 21 years that a player other than Roger Federer (retired, Switzerland), Rafael Nadal (136th, Spain), and Andy Murray (40th, England), who are called the “Big Four” at Wimbledon, has won the Wimbledon men’s singles since Leighton Hewitt (retired, Australia) in 2002.
It is the first time in 10 years that Alkaras has caught Djokovic in the Wimbledon final since Murray in 2013.
Alcaras, who lost 1-3 (3-67-5 1-6 1-6) in the semifinals of this year’s French Open against Djokovic, succeeded in avenging himself and led by two wins and one loss against him.
It is the second time that Alcaras has reached the top of a major tournament since last year’s US Open.
Alcaras, who had been weak due to his lack of grass court experience compared to clay courts and hard courts, won his first grass court title at the ATP Tour Cinch Championship last month and shook off his weakness by winning his first title at Wimbledon.
Alkaras, who had to give up the world’s No. 1 ranking if he lost to Djokovic on the same day, won the victory and secured the world’s No. 1 position.
In addition, Alkaras became the third-youngest Wimbledon champion after Björn Bori (Sweden) in 1976 and Boris Becker (Germany) in 1985 since 1968 when professional players were allowed to participate in major tournaments.
Djokovic, who lifted the Wimbledon trophy four times in a row from 2018 to last year except in 2020, which was not held in the aftermath of COVID-19, failed to win five consecutive games. Djokovic, who also won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014-2015, also lost his eighth Wimbledon title.
Only Barley (1976-1980) and Federer (2003-2007) have won five consecutive Wimbledon titles. In addition, Federer will still be the only winner of Wimbledon.
It is the first time in about six years that Djokovic has suffered a defeat at Wimbledon since the quarterfinals in 2017. Wimbledon’s winning streak, which has been going on since 2018, also stopped at ’34.
Djokovic had a good start. Djokovic, who led far ahead with a game score of 5-0 in the first set, gave up only one game to Alkaras and took the first set.
However, Alcaras began to counterattack as the accuracy of the shot revived from the second set.
In the second set of tiebreak, he scored points with his unique exquisite volley and returned the game to square one.
Alcaras led the flow with a game score of 3-1 in the third set. With the game score leading 3-1, Djokovic entered deuce as many as 13 times during his serve game, leading to a great match. Alcaras, who succeeded in breaking after a bloody fight in the 25th minute, eventually won the third set and turned the game around.
Djokovic, who played with a bandage on his left thigh, endured despite his uncomfortable appearance. In the game score of 2–2, he broke Alkaras’ serve game, harvesting four sets and leading the game to five sets.
Alkaras was not swayed by Djokovic’s pursuit.
In the fifth set, he took the lead again by breaking Djokovic’s serve game with a 1-1 score. Djokovic expressed his anger by hitting the racket.
Alkaras took a 40-30 lead with a game score of 5-4, and secured the championship point as Djokovic’s last shot failed to cross the net. Alcaras lay on the court as he was, covering his face and enjoying his joy.