Carlos Alcaraz left everyone impressed with his brilliant performance to beat Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon men’s singles final on Sunday. It was the first Wimbledon title for the 20-year-old Spaniard who had earlier won the US Open 2022 title after defeating Casper Ruud. In a video posted by the official Wimbledon handle on YouTube, Alcaraz could be seen waving at the fans inside the All England Club before he meets Djokovic’s family. He shook hands with Djokovic’s son Stefan and then he was greeted by Djokovic’s wife Jelena who had a small chat with the youngster.
World number one Alcaraz recovered from dropping the first set and saving a set point in the second to win 1-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 after four hours and 42 minutes on Centre Court.
It was a second major for the 20-year-old Spaniard following his US Open title last year as he became Wimbledon’s third youngest men’s champion.
The result will also spark feverish speculation over the start of a generational shift, with 36-year-old Djokovic carrying the torch of the ‘Big Three’ now that Roger Federer is retired and Rafael Nadal is sidelined, perhaps permanently.
Australian Open and French Open champion Djokovic had been bidding to equal Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles, match Margaret Court’s all-time mark of 24 Slams and become the All England Club’s oldest men’s champion.
“You inspire me a lot,” Alcaraz told Djokovic after becoming the third Spanish winner of the title, following in the footsteps of Manuel Santana in 1966 and Nadal in 2008 and 2010.
“I started playing tennis watching you. Since I was born you were already winning tournaments. It is amazing,” he added with a smile after firing 66 winners past the Serb, off-setting his 45 unforced errors.
“I fall in love with grass right now. It’s amazing.”
(With AFP inputs)
