Alcaraz rules Wimbledon with astonishing triumph

Mumbai: Once is a wonder. Twice is a statement.

By now we know Carlos Alcaraz is a wonder, but this was indeed a statement.

Of defending his crown by defeating the same great in the final. Of silencing a 24-time Grand Slam champion into submission. Of rapidly growing in stature by capturing four Slams at 21, something even the unparalleled Big Three of men’s tennis hadn’t.

If Alcaraz’s 2023 Wimbledon triumph was the signalling of the change of guard in men’s tennis, his 2024 defence was a significant stamp on it. Alcaraz beat Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4) on Sunday in a final where so omnipresent was his all-round class that it left the seven-time champion astonishingly clueless.

“He was definitely very hot today,” Djokovic chuckled on court.

The sizzling Spaniard has been hot over the last couple of months, adding a second grass-court major to his clay-court first in Paris. He is only the sixth man to do the French Open-Wimbledon double in the same season and the first since Djokovic in 2021.

Alcaraz hadn’t been at his best through this Wimbledon but come the big day, he was a beast. His serving was sublime, his forehand bullied the Serb and shot variety lit up the London evening. The only time Alcaraz looked fragile was when, from 40-0 serving for the title, he fluffed three championship points and got broken.

Moments like these tend to linger in the mind of youngsters but, again, Alcaraz showed why he’s no ordinary 21-year-old in the sport. Minutes later in the tiebreaker when the fourth championship point arrived, Alcaraz smiled. And served it out this time as Djokovic’s backhand return crashed into the net.

“I was seeing so far away,” Alcaraz said of his thoughts within touching distance of the finish line.

He eventually crossed it, like he did in all the Slam finals that he has stepped foot in so far. Alcaraz has never gone down when the stakes are highest. And, from the first minute of Sunday’s clash, he never looked like changing that.

In last year’s final, Djokovic swept Alcaraz away in the first set in just 34 minutes. This year, the first game alone lasted 14 minutes. This was a different Alcaraz — locked in from strike one. And it was some strike.

Opting to receive, Alcaraz created three break points, giving an early taster of his silken rhythm while catching Djokovic off guard at the net. First, with a banana forehand passing stinger for the stretched Serb. Second, with a sharp angled forehand passing return winner off the second serve. Third, with a backhand crosscourt return winner. Djokovic managed to save them all with quality first serves, and then another one. Until at the fifth time of repeatedly asking and relentlessly punching, Alcaraz broke in.

And then in no time slammed the door on Djokovic.

Djokovic’s tactics, though, were a bit perplexing. A master of dictating from the baseline no matter who stood across, Djokovic was quick to move forward and station himself at the net. By the fifth game, he’d rushed to the net 10 times and, on most occasions, without success. Alcaraz’s passing shots whizzed past him, his own volleys crashed into the net.

After a Djokovic double fault on another break point down, Alcaraz went double break up. Dazed in the 1-6 opening set of the 2023 final, Alcaraz dazzled in the opening 6-2 set of the 2024 final.

The second set started just like the first: with Djokovic serving, littering errors, and Alcaraz getting the early break catching Djokovic into submission at the net. Djokovic’s body language was flat; his returns, surprisingly even off second serves, feeble. He did applaud an Alcaraz serve and volley winner, but when he netted his own volley to give Alcaraz another break opportunity and hand it to him with another double fault, Alcaraz returned to his chair amid the sound of cheer and the sight of a barely believable two-set scoreline.

It’s in moments and adversities like these that greats like Djokovic, staring at a killer blow, find something in them to come alive. The Serb, playing his 37th Slam final, has been there done that, most recently in the 2021 French Open final that he grabbed from being two sets to love down.

There were signs, like when he began the set with a hold for a change or saved four break points in the third game to yell “C’mon” in a first real show of emotion. But two instances in that set reflected Alcaraz’s superiority of the mind and skill on the day.

In the second game down 15-30 on his serve, Alcaraz raced forward to get to a backhand volley from Djokovic and placed it perfectly through the open court. Pressure point, desperate play, ice-cool execution.

Then, serving for the set after getting the break eventually in the ninth game, Alcaraz double-faulted at 40-0 and with his first serve deserting him, got broken. Shrugging it off, he pulled off a volley digging it out off his ankle two games later. Moments later, at 3-3 in the tiebreaker, a ferocious forehand that took Djokovic wide off court was backed up by a deft volley. Then, a drop shot winner opened another championship point opportunity.

Alcaraz smiled. And not too long after that, stood with the Wimbledon trophy again.