There were two remarkable stories in the Wimbledon men’s final.
The first was that Carlos Alcaraz won a consecutive title in emphatic fashion.
The other was that his opponent Novak Djokovic made it all the way there just five weeks after knee surgery.
It was a replay of last year’s final with the same outcome but it was a different contest. Twelve months ago the match was a tight five setter to Alcaraz, 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 6-4. In contrast, today’s final went to him 6-2 6-2 7-6(4).
After a fortnight where rain had continually disrupted the schedule, the Centre Court roof could be kept open throughout the singles and following mixed doubles final, which had been postponed from its Thursday slot due to the inclemency.
Before their match, the players joked about who would lead the way down the halls to Centre Court, as Alcaraz insisted “you go first”.
So Djokovic led the way onto court and served for a 14 minute first game. After seven deuces and five break points, Alcaraz’s decision to receive proved a smart one when he claimed the break.
Last year Djokovic had fallen behind 0-5 in 27 minutes. This year it took longer but Alcaraz got a double break and forged ahead to 5-1.
As Djokovic’s son Stefan stood and applauded, he held serve through his best play in the set. But soon the moment had passed him for 2-6.
It was the same score in the second set. Djokovic hit a few sublime drop shots but he faced a player no one could beat in that form, who had an answer to every challenge.
To his credit, Djokovic raised his level considerably in the third set. At 1-1, he served and saved four break points, the last one with an ace. He got game point also with an ace. When he held, he let out a roar of defiance.
Play continued on serve to 4-4 as the players traversed many break opportunities which didn’t come to fruition. Then Alcaraz swung freely and broke. He served for the championship and was 40-0 up before nerves and crowd distractions affected him.
On his first championship point, he served a double fault, then couldn’t pull off the remaining two.
Djokovic seized the initiative and broke for the first time in the match for 5-5. After holding easily, the score was 6-5 and his supporters were anticipating a fourth set.
But Alcaraz hit a sensational volley from his toes to get to 40-0. Even at this stage of the match, Djokovic graciously applauded him.
Alcaraz held that game to love. In the ensuing tiebreak he earned a fourth championship point – twenty minutes after the first – with a drop shot so good that Djokovic just stood and watched it.
An unreturnable serve got Alcaraz the trophy after two hours and 27 minutes.
The Serb had been sluggish at times despite having had three and a half days off before a straight sets semi win over Lorenzo Musetti, due to rain delays and receiving a walkover in the quarters courtesy of an injured Alex de Minaur.
He had gone through the tournament wearing a heavy duty knee brace but may have been feeling discomfort in his knee. In the end, Alcaraz was just too good, with pace and power that Djokovic was unable to muster on this occasion.
Alcaraz was warmly congratulated by Djokovic’s team as he passed by on his way to celebrate with his own box.
He had become the fourth man in the Open Era to win four grand slam singles titles at the age of 21 or under – joining Mats Wilander, Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker. But Alcaraz is the first man to do so in 35 years.
Title photo of Pimm’s Hill ready for opening by Simone Kemler