Lightning never strikes twice. Definitely not in Novak Djokovic’s tennis career one would think. But it did on Centre Court on Sunday as Carlos Alcaraz played celestial tennis to vanquish the Serb 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4) for a second straight time in the Wimbledon final.
The 10 games Djokovic won were slightly better than the seven he managed against Rafael Nadal in the 2020 French Open, his worst in Major finals. But it was a beat-down like no other as Alcaraz reduced him to a relic by handing him his first straight sets defeat in a completed match at SW19 since the 2013 final versus Andy Murray.
Short of breath
Just over five weeks ago, Djokovic had had a surgery to repair a torn meniscus. Though he did not appear in any physical discomfort, he was often short of breath. It would, however, be a disservice to Alcaraz’s excellence to cite the injury, for the 21-year-old played one of the matches of his life to secure his fourth Grand Slam title and complete the coveted French Open-Wimbledon double.
“I am not going to consider myself a great champion yet,” Alcaraz declared. “Not like them,” he said, pointing to Djokovic. The evidence, though, was to the contrary.
The only time Djokovic’s tennis matched Alcaraz’s was in the 13-minute opening game that had seven deuces and finished with an Alcaraz break of serve. For the rest of the contest, the 37-year-old 24-time Slam winner looked like an aged novelist lost for words.
Alcaraz won the first 6-2, showing none of the nerves he had in last year’s final when he lost it 1-6. The serves were big and pin-point, the ground-strokes powerful and sharply angled, and his favourite drop shot was encrypted in plain sight.
The forehand was especially mesmerising, for it was so accurate that it seemed like Alcaraz was controlling it with a string. The Spaniard’s blindingly brilliant athleticism, which got him to many a ball that was on the verge of being swallowed by the court, left Djokovic exasperated.
The second set played out similarly, just that the early break came rather easily, helped by two high-quality blocked returns from Alcaraz and a Djokovic volley gone awry. The missed volley was a recurring theme for the Serb, completely undoing his ploy to play the net-rushing style. “He wasn’t allowing me free points on my serve,” Djokovic said. “He was reading the serve and playing with a lot of variety. And I’ve never seen him serve that way... 136mph! I’ve never seen him serve that fast.”
In the final set, after some initial pressure, Alcaraz moved decisively in the ninth game. Djokovic withered, allowing a two-fisted cross-court pass on break-point whistle past him without even trying to reach it. But Alcaraz, uncharacteristically, let three match-points slip from 5-4, 40-0. He seemed rattled on the third when a fan cried out mid-rally while he was about to hit a swing volley into the open court. The ball sailed out and, in a flash, Djokovic had stretched the set to a tie-breaker.
The seven-time Wimbledon winner has managed many a jail-break in these parts, the most vivid being the 2019 final after being two match-points down to Roger Federer.
Astonishing drop shot
But Alcaraz quickly refocused and rediscovered his best tennis — a zipping forehand winner, a breathtaking pick up and an astonishing drop shot from mid-court highlighting the tie-breaker. A return error from Djokovic on the fourth match-point sent the Spaniard into seventh heaven.
“I was inferior on the court,” Djokovic admitted. “He played every single shot better. I don’t think I could have done much more. Try to pump myself up maybe, yes. Get the crowd involved. That’s what was happening in the third. That got me going a little bit. Overall, he really outplayed me.”
