Carlos Alcaraz was crowned champion at Wimbledon: he beat Novak Djokovic in the final to defend his crown in London

Carlos Alacraz He was crowned two-time champion of Wimbledon after giving him a beating Novak Djokovic In a final in which there was only one owner. The Spaniard defended his crown by winning 6-2, 6-2 and 7-6 (6) in a game that lasted 2 hours and 27 minutes.

Alcaraz transformed his role as a promising fighter into that of a favourite for this edition, but it was not expected that he would add the label of monster, of title devourer. Because the Spaniard not only beat Djokovicsomething that several have achieved in history, managed to reduce him to the minimum, to wipe him off the track, to give him one of the biggest beatings of his career. And he did it with a simplicity that scares anyone who intends to be his rival in the coming years.

Because AlcarazAt 21, he equalled Manolo Santana’s four Grand Slams, became the sixth man to achieve the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double and is the first Spaniard to retain his title at the Cathedral.

And he did it because he is no longer the short-haired kid who showed up with nothing to lose on this same stage a year ago. Over time, not only has his hairstyle changed, but also his nerves, the same ones that in 2023 got the better of him during the first set of the final, which lasted barely 23 minutes.

The first game of this Sunday’s final lasted fourteen minutes. “It’s going to overlap with the Euro final,” many thought, while Alcaraz, as if in a hurry to cheer on his Spain, planned a different outcome.

Alcaraz needed a quarter of an hour and five break points to bend the Serbian’s hand for the first time, but from then on he did not stop. It was as if Djokovic was playing the violin and Alcaraz was enjoying dancing with him.

The Spaniard was a spectacle of drop shots, counter-drop shots, counterattacks and dominance. Djokovic played the ball very cleanly and was able to direct it, but Alcaraz always returned it hard and better. And the most surprising thing was the calm with which he did it.

With the score halfway through the match, 6-2 and 1-0 in his favour, the Murcian was walking around his side of the court playing with the ball and thinking about what would be the next trick to drive the 24-time Grand Slam champion to despair, the man who wanted Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledons and who came across Alcaraz defending his idol’s legacy.

Djokovic, as games slipped away from him like in the 2020 Roland Garros final against Nadal, needed an external stimulus to wake up, a shout from the stands, anger to hold on to, but he could only take out his rage on the net and against what he thought was bad luck and was actually the Spaniard’s impeccable game.

At 6-2, 6-2, he looked up at the sky, exhausted, and prayed for divine help to escape once again. The most “Houdini” of all tennis players already knew what it was like to come back from two sets down in a Grand Slam final, but it was in 2021, at Roland Garros and against the weak Stefanos Tsitsipas.

This time he was facing a Grand Slam champion, number one and dominator of the present and future of this sport. Even so, Djokovic came close to reacting. In the sixth game of the third set, he had his first break point since the first set and Alcaraz, who saved it with a near-winning serve, saved four-all at his most difficult moment.

The cries of “Nole, Nole!” were soon replaced by those of “Carlos, Carlos!” and not even the sarcastic “Come on England” destabilised Alcaraz, who was on his way to victory, until he reached the abyss of serving for Wimbledon against Djokovic.

Alcaraz, who had already been haunted by Roger Federer on this court in 2019, had a shaky hand, just as Andy Murray had in 2013. He went 40-0 up on his serve, with three match points. In a festival of net shots and errors, and an ill-timed chant from a fan of “Champions, champions,” Alcaraz lost the next five points.

He entered a hole that few escape from, and one that many sink into. Having accustomed his fans to doses of suffering throughout the tournament, the final was no exception.

The third set, which if lost would have meant a huge gap, went to a tie break and there Alcaraz showed that, despite his nerves, he is still the best.

With the score at 5-4 in the tie-break, two points away from victory, Alcaraz broke Djokovic with a drop shot first and did not let his nerves get the better of him on the fifth match point. The return on the second serve stayed in the net and Alcaraz threw his racket away and turned to his bench.

Carlos Alcaraz is the best and not even Djokovic at Wimbledon can argue with him.

SPORTS

With EFE.