Carlos Alcaraz Makes Tennis History After Beating Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon Final

21-year-old budding tennis superstar Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated all-time great Novak Djokovic last summer in the Wimbledon final, successfully defended his crown against seven-time Wimbledon champ on Sunday in a five-game match.

This time, however, it was barely a competitive match at all. The 6-foot world No. 3 bested the 24-time Grand Slam winner in straight sets — 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 — with a killer serve and remarkable poise and patience.

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With the victory, Alcaraz secured his record fourth Grand Slam championship before turning 22, breaking the previous record set by his own countryman, Rafael Nadal, who had won three by that point, per ATPTour.com. Nadal, still an active player at age 38, currently has 22 major championships, second only to Djokovic among men’s players in the Open Era.

Alcaraz has also now won the last two majors on tour, after also claiming his first-ever French Open title earlier this season. He also won the US Open in 2022.

Though Novak Djokovic is perhaps the best men’s tennis player in history (he’s certainly the winningest, at least in major hardware), the 37-year-old is catching the ascendant Alcaraz while he himself seems to be in a bit of a slide (for him). The world No. 2 has yet to win a major this year. If he can’t claim a victory at the US Open, it will mark his first season without a Grand Slam since 2017, when he missed much of the year with an elbow injury.

The duo is now 3-3 in head-to-head matches. Breaking it down by court surface, the two greats are 1-1 on clay, while Djokovic is 2-0 on hard courts and Alcaraz is 2-0 on grass.

After the match, a reflective Djokovic was remarkably candid about Alcaraz’s excellence — and acknowledged that he looked better than ever in besting the 24-time Grand Slam champ, per Stephanie Livaudais of Tennis.com.

“Just overall the way I felt on the court today against him, I was inferior on the court. That’s it,” Djokovic conceded. “He was a better player. He played every single shot better than I did.”

“I’ve never seen him serve that way, to be honest. 136 [miles per hour serve speed],” Djokovic added. “Maybe I was missing something this tournament, but I’ve never seen him serve that fast. He must have had a really good serving practice day yesterday… Yes, overall he really outplayed me.”

“In order to really have a chance to beat these guys in Grand Slam latter stages or Olympics, I’m going to have to play much better than I did today and feel much better than I did today,” Djokovic said.

Djokovic is on the mend after recovering from a torn meniscus incurred at the French Open in early June. He is still on pace to compete for his native Serbia in the 2024 Paris Olympics later this month. Alcaraz, meanwhile, will be looking to claim his first Olympic gold medal for Spain.

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