Alcaraz Wins First Wimbledon Title, Ends Five-Year Djokovic Reign

Carlos Alcaraz, Wimbledon
Carlos Alcaraz (photo: Jürgen Hasenkopf)

WIMBLEDON/WASHINGTON, July 16, 2023 (by Michael Dickens)

Sunday afternoon’s Gentlemen’s Singles final at Wimbledon, which paired the 23-time major titlist and seven-time Championships winner Novak Djokovic and the current World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, showcased the best player in the game versus the prodigy, who in the eyes of most represents the best hope for the future of the sport.

Guess what? The first man not named Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray or Djokovic since 2002 has won this year’s title. A new reign has begun in men’s tennis – and it started at 6:52 p.m. London Time.

Alcaraz overcame a near-perfect start by Djokovic and outlasted the 36-year-old Serbian, 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, in a final that stretched over four hours and 43 minutes and included a nearly-27-minute, 13-deuce fifth game in the third set won by Alcaraz. It was the third-longest men’s final in Wimbledon history.

The young Spaniard halted Djokovic’s 34-match Wimbledon winning streak to win his 12th career ATP Tour title and second major – and remained undefeated on grass (12-0) this year. Djokovic’s last loss at SW19 came in the quarterfinal round in 2017.

Djokovic accepted his loss in stride. After receiving his runner-up plate, he smiled as he spoke. “I guess when all the emotions are settled, I have to still be very grateful because I won very many tight and close matches in the past here. … Maybe, I should have lost a couple of finals that I won. So, maybe this is even steven.”

At age 20, Alcaraz became the youngest Wimbledon men’s champion since Boris Becker won in 1986 at age 18. He joins Manolo Santana and Nadal as the third Spaniard to win Wimbledon and he ended the run of Djokovic, who had won the last four Wimbledon titles over a five-year period beginning in 2018 and was attempting to match Federer’s record of eight Gentlemen’s Singles crowns.

After receiving his trophy, Alcaraz said winning Wimbledon was a dream come true for him. “For a boy, 20 years old, I didn’t expect to,reach these situations really, really fast. I’m really proud of myself.”

In their third career meeting, with their head-to-head tied at 1-1, Djokovic and Alcaraz competed for the most famous trophy in tennis on its most-hallowed ground, Centre Court at the All England Club, on a cloudy summer London day with the roof open. The No. 1 ranking was at stake with it going to the winner. It will remain in the hands of Alcaraz as the North American hard-court season begins at the end of the month leading up to the US Open, which the young Spaniard  won last year.

Djokovic was hoping to continue his excellent pursuit of a calendar Grand Slam not accomplished since 1969 by Rod Laver as well as to win his eighth Wimbledon crown that would tie him with Federer, while Alcaraz had reached the final in two of his last three majors. He was attempting to become the third youngest man to win a Grand Slam title.

With the Prince and Princess of Wales and their two oldest children sitting front and center in the Royal Box watching attentively and applauding with the 15,000 fans, who filled all the seats on Centre Court, Alcaraz and Djokovic put on quite a memorable show. It included everything a tennis fan could hope for: great drama between the baselines, a bit of humor, plenty of drama and suspense – and a surprise winner, too.

The last time Djokovic lost a match on Centre Court was the 2013 final to Murray, who happened to be seated among the common fans with British teammate Neal Skupski for Sunday’s final. Since then, the World No. 2 had won 45 straight matches. Now, he’ll need to start fresh next year.

Djokovic got off to a near perfect start with a double-break lead at 5-0 as Alcaraz rushed and over-hit his returns before the match was even half an hour old. After the young Spaniard finally held serve with a pair of forehand winners, Djokovic closed out the nearly-flawless 34-minute opener 6-1 with a forehand smash winner. He outpointed Alcaraz 29-17, who was obviously not at his best. But it demonstrated for everyone of why Djokovic is the best.

A telling statistic as the second set began, Djokovic was 303-5 in Grand Slam competition when winning the first set – including 79-1 at Wimbledon – after easily taking the opening set Sunday. However, Alcaraz wasn’t ready to concede anything to Djokovic. In the longest set of the tournament – a whopping 85 minutes – it was Alcaraz who was smiling as the final reached the two-hour mark as he struck a backhand winner off a first serve to prevail 8-6 in a tie-break and even the final at a set apiece. It snapped a 15-tie-break winning streak by Djokovic.

Then, Alcaraz won the third set 6-1 with a crisp backhand passing shot after breaking Djokovic three times in the stanza – which equaled the number of times the Serbian had lost serve the entire rest of the tournament. The highlight of the match came in the fifth game with Alcaraz up a break at 3-1. He broke Djokovic on his seventh break-point opportunity in a game that lasted our seconds shy of 27 minutes and included 13 deuces. The entire set lasted an hour – and it sent Djokovic scurrying to a seven-minute toilet break before he returned.

Soon, as the final reached the four-hour plateau, Djokovic leveled the match by winning the 55-minute fourth set 6-3 after breaking Alcaraz on a double fault. Still, there was plenty of tennis left to be played.

Onward to the fifth set, where presumably Djokovic’s experience would pay off. Or would it? After Alcaraz went up a break at 2-1 with a clean backhand passing shot, in frustration, Djokovic smashed his racquet on the ash wood net post on his way to his chair and received a code violation. Next, Alcaraz with an solid ace to the corner held for a 4-2 advantage. He would never look back. Finally, serving for the championship, Alcaraz won four of the last five points. A forced error on a forehand by Djokovic closed the book on the 2023 title match.

Looking back, the numbers told a story for Alcaraz: nine aces, 65 winners, five break’s of his opponent’s service. Djokovic, who committed 40 unforced errors, was only able to break Alcaraz five times in 15 tries. By the end, only two points separated the competitors: Alcaraz 168, Djokovic 166.

Soon, the celebration began for Alcaraz, who was all giddy and smiling, applauded wildly by the fans and embraced by his team and family members in his player’s box. He would eventually have a chance to meet the King of Spain. First, though, he and Djokovic shared a warm embrace and it got only more exciting from there for the new champion. Alcaraz shouted “Vamos!” loudly and proudly, and kicked a tennis ball into the stands for good measure.

“Credit to Carlos, amazing poise in the important moments,” Djokovic said in his press conference. “For someone of his age to handle the nerves like this, be playing attacking tennis, and to close out the match the way he did. … Congratulations to him and to his team. What a tournament for him. What a match to be a part of. I hope everyone enjoyed it.”

Later, Alcaraz was asked by ESPN during an off-court interview after he had finished posing with the champion’s trophy if he was ready to step up and be the rival to Djokovic on behalf of his generation. “I hope so,” he replied. “I think I’ve shown I’m able to face him in the biggest stage after epic matches. I think I’m ready to move on forward and be the big rival of Novak.”

Hsieh and Strycova win second Wimbledon title together

Longtime friends and doubles partners Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic, both 37, are Wimbledon champions, again.

The unseeded pair – Strycova had been off tour for two years, having given birth to a son in 2021, while Hsieh missed all of 2022 – defeated No. 3 seeds Storm Hunter of Australia and Elise Mertens of Belgium, 7-5, 6-4, on Centre Court Sunday night with the roof closed. It was their second Wimbledon women’s doubles title together after winning the crown in 2019. It was also the sixth career major women’s doubles title for Hsieh.

In the Royal Box

Among those spotted on TV sitting in the Royal Box for the men’s final in addition to William and Catherine, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and their two oldest children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, were: two-time Wimbledon champion Stefan Edberg, 1960 Wimbledon champion Neale Fraser, 1972 Wimbledon champion Stan Smith, 1973 Wimbledon champion Jan Kodes, 1991 Wimbledon champion Michael Stich, six-time Wimbledon champion Billie Jean King, three-time Wimbledon champion Chrissie Evert, actors Daniel Craig and James Norton, actress Rachel Weisz, jockey Rachael Blackmore and King Felipe VI of Spain.

Outside the Royal Box

Among the notables in attendance but not confined to the Royal Box were: showman Hugh Jackman, actors Brad Pitt, Idris Elba, Andrew Garfield and Tom Hiddleston, singer Ariana Grande and two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, sitting with other British tennis stars past and present Laura Robson and Neal Skupski.

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