Carlos Alcaraz produced the most seismic result in tennis for 10 years when a sensational display saw him floor Novak Djokovic before an adoring crowd at Wimbledon.
Ten years after Andy Murray won his first title, the 20-year-old Spaniard overcame the man who can no longer lose on the Centre Court 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in four hours and 42 minutes.
Inflicting Djokovic’s first defeat on the famous arena since 2013 took everything he had, and he retains his world No 1 position, ending the Serb’s dream of the calendar Grand Slam. For once it seems that the old ‘changing of the guard’ line has an authentic ring to it.
The final set began just after 6pm and Alcaraz had the chance to break but was stymied by a first serve that he could not control.
Then it was Djokovic’s turn to have a chance of control, but he dumped a straightforward high volley in the net with the court at his mercy on break point after a brilliant retrieval. Alcaraz held on, to rapturous applause.
Carlos Alcaraz has won Wimbledon after beating Novak Djokovic 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in Sunday’s final
The 20-year-old came from a set down to beat the seven-time champion in a thrilling final on centre court
It was the Spaniard’s second Grand Slam victory after winning the US Open in 2022, and his second grass title
Then came the break for 2-1 after what might have been the point of the season. Alcaraz covered every blade of grass on break point and then lasered a backhand down the line. Djokovic walked back to his chair and smashed his racket into the net post, earning a code violation.
Djokovic had not lost a five set match since the French Open of 2019 to Dominic Thiem, but it was looking like that might be repeated when Alcaraz held for 4-2. Under pressure he produced a beautiful dropshot to get to 5-3.
Serving beneath the Royal Box for his destiny, he began with a miscued dropshot but followed it with a magnificent lob winner and then a staggering lunge volley. Match point came up with a serve down the ‘Tee’ and then sealed it with a serve and forehand winner combination.
This final saw the biggest age gap in modern history facing off in Grand Slam finals since the two in 1974 that pitted a young Jimmy Connors against Ken Rosewall.
Alcaraz, bidding to become the third Spaniard to win after Rafael Nadal and Manolo Santana, came out to an A-list crowd and quite blustery conditions but an open roof.
As a celeb-packed assembly, including everyone from the Princess of Wales to Brad Pitt looked on, the 20 year-old got off to a confident start by forcing a break point in the opening game.
That was shortlived, however, and in the next game he went 0-40 down and on a third break point drove his forehand too long, betraying an over-eagerness that was also evident when they met at the French Open.
Alcaraz struggled in the first set and went 5-0 down as he failed to find any rhythm on centre court
He fought back to take the second set via tie breakand continued to build momentum through the third
The Spaniard then held his nerve well to take the fifth set after going a break up on his storied opponent
Alcaraz’s athleticism was on show throughout as he raced around the court and his some classy volleys
While there were some dynamic exchanges too many errors were coming from the challenger, and he was 5-0 down before he knew it, a huge roar going up when he finally got on the board with a wonderful forehand pass.
Djokovic was receiving a helping hand from Irish umpire Fergus Murphy in the time taken between points, but Alcaraz managed to hold his concentration and strike out more freely to break at the start of the second.
Both men started to put more air into their shots in a bid to cut down an outbreak of unforced errors, with the Spaniard’s momentum arrested.
The Serb glared angrily at the crowd as he broke back, amid signs of crowd frustration at the sheer amount of ball bouncing he was doing. The second serve speed of Djokovic had reduced in the second set, but still Alcaraz was not quite able to take advantage.
But then the champion’s amazing defensive skills forces opponents to play right on the edge, and when Alcaraz had an opening he would go for it too much.
The wondrous athleticism of both men was to the fore as they moved towards Djokovic’s killing zone – the tiebreak.
He edged ahead to 6-5 – managing to overcome the distraction of an overdue time violation at 4-5 – but then, totally against type, hit two backhands into the net. On set point Alcaraz connected beautifully with a serve that kicked high to his backhand and drilled a return winner down the line, extracting huge roar from the crowd.
Alcaraz was notably more relaxed as he forced a break early in the third and then came the mammoth fifth game, which lasted nearly 27 minutes and contained 32 points.
Djokovic was close to his best for much of the match but did make a few uncharacteristic errors
His frustration got the better of him in the final set, as he smashed his racket against the net post after hitting a straightforward return into the net
He was clearly emotional when interviewed after the loss but admitted the better player had won
The Spaniard pushed and pushed amid rare indications that the Serb was feeling the pace. He had argued with the umpire over going to his towel in the previous game and now he was having to fight off a surging opponent who, after a series of groundstroke mistakes on break point, finally clinched it when Djokovic hit long. Alcaraz reeled off the next two games and by the end of the set had landed 82% of his returns in, breaking three times.
Predictably the champion then left the court for an elongated bathroom break which took seven minutes, and returned to a smattering of boos, but it failed to snap his opponent’s rhythm.
Alcaraz forced two break points for a 2-0 lead and it looked expensive when he pulled a slice wide.
But his body language was the more positive and occasionally the favourite was looking all of his 36 years, trying to shorten the points on occasion. Yet still he created three break points at 2-2, and on the third dumped a half volley in the net. Djokovic blew a kiss to his detractors in the crowd.His returns had been near flawless, and nearly four hours were on the clock when he broke again to serve first in the decider.
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