Carlos Alcaraz Halts Novak Djokovic’s History-Making Bid At Wimbledon

Novak Djokovic’s quest to tie Margaret Court at 24 majors will have to wait.

Playing in his first Wimbledon final and in one of the most anticipated tennis matches in recent memory, Carlos Alcaraz made sure of that.

The 20-year-old Spaniard played the match of his life to defeat the 36-year-old Djokovic, 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6- 4 to reclaim the world’s No. 1 ranking and prevent him from tying Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. In a championship match that featured the second-biggest age gap — behind only Ken Rosewall and Jimmy Connors in the 1974 final won by Connors —Alcaraz also halted Djokovic’s quest for the first calendar Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969.

Playing in front of Kate Middleton, Brad Pitt and Hugh Jackman, Alcaraz snapped Djokovic’s 45-match winning streak at Wimbledon and handed him his first loss on Centre Court since the 2013 final against Andy Murray.

For now, Djokovic remains tied with Serena Williams at 23 majors — one clear of Rafael Nadal’s 22. Djokovic was also bidding for his record-tying eighth Wimbledon title, which would have tied Roger Federer, and fifth straight, which would have knotted him with Federer and Bjorn Borg.

Alcaraz, meantime, won his second major title after the U.S. Open last summer, and became the first non-Fab Four member (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Andy Murray) to win Wimbledon since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002.

Alcaraz takes home $2,974,458 for winning the title while Djokovic received $1,487,229. He also achieved some measure of revenge for losing to Djokovic in the French Open semifinals last month when he cramped out after two sets.

In the decisive fifth set on Sunday, Alcaraz broke Djokovic with a crushing two-handed backhand passing shot for a 2-1 lead that caused the Serb to smash his racquet on the net post. The violent swing left a mark on the wooden post and appeared to hurt the right wrist of Djokovic, who flexed his right wrist during the next game on Alcaraz’s serve. Alcaraz held for a 3-1 lead.

Alcaraz then fired up an ace on game point to seize a 5-3 lead in the fifth. Serving for the match at 5-4, Alcaraz showed huge confidence by coming to the net and hitting a drop shot winner to get to 30-15. A service winner brought him to match point at 40-30.

And on match point, he hit a forehand crosscourt winner that Djokovic hit into the net.

The two men then embraced at the net.

In the second set, Alcaraz broke Djokovic for a quick 2-0 lead when the Serb hit a forehand wide. Djokovic quickly got the break back when Alcaraz hit a forehand wide, making it 2-1.

In the ninth game of the second set, Djokovic took a hard fall behind the baseline and was shaken up. He was seen stretching his leg on the net amid some discomfort afterward.

Entering the tiebreak, Djokovic had a chance to go up two sets to love. But his run of 15 consecutive tiebreak wins in majors ended when Alcaraz earned a set point for 5-6 on Djokovic’s serve and then hit a return winner to take the tiebreak.

In the third set, Alcaraz earned a quick break for 1-0 when Djokovic hit a backhand into the net. Alcaraz held from 15-40 down while going into the wind to consolidate for a 3-1 lead.

The fifth game was a huge turning point. With Djokovic serving, he faced 13 deuces in a game that featured 32 points and lasted nearly 27 minutes. When Djokovic finally hit a forehand into the net, Alcaraz had a double-break lead for 4-1. With Djokovic appearing to give away the third set, Alcaraz broke him again to win it 6-1.

After taking a 6-minute break to leave the court following the third, Djokovic returned somewhat refreshed for the fourth set. He earned a break for 3-2 when Alcaraz dumped a half-volley into the net on break point.

With Alcaraz serving at 3-5 in the fourth, he double-faulted twice, including on set point to give Djokovic the set and head things to a decisive fifth.