Carlos Alcaraz predicted how many grand slam championships he would win after a performance that combined great artistry with cold-blooded ferocity. “I don’t know my limit,” he said. “But at the end of my career, I want to sit at the same table as the great names. “That is my major objective.”
Would anybody dare to bet against it now? Not after this three-set thrashing of Novak Djokovic, which handed the Spaniard his fourth grand slam victory at the age of 21 years, 70 days. That’s more than Andy Murray has won in his whole career. And ahead of Rafael Nadal (three), Djokovic (one), and Roger Federer (none) at the same juncture in their careers. Already, he’s breathing in a rarefied atmosphere.
Carlos Alcaraz demonstrates his excitement after clinching the win.Carlos Alcaraz pledges to keep winning grand slams and joining the all-time greats.The Spaniard has always felt like a tennis player in the quickest lane, and with this triumph, he joins Rod Laver, Björn Borg, Nadal, Federer, and Djokovic as the only six male players to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year in the Open era. Tennis’s biggest names.
Indeed, there were just two minor hiccups over two and a half hours of fantastic tennis on Centre Court. The first happened after Alcaraz wasted three match points at 5-4 in the third set, and the last came when someone screamed “Yes!” as he was about to hit a winning smash.
What about the second? That happened after Alcaraz blew kisses to all four corners of Centre Court, let out a shout of pleasure, and then temporarily forgot how to get to the players’ box to celebrate. One gets the impression that he will have many more opportunities to identify the shortest path in the future.
In front of the Princess of Wales, there was an evident sense of change of guard. Following all,After all, this was Djokovic’s second worst defeat in a grand slam final, trailing only Rafael Na And no one admired Alcaraz’s skill more than the man on the opposite side of the floor. “He just was better than me in every facet of the game: mobility, the way he was striking the ball wonderfully, serving fantastic, everything,” added Djokovic, who deserves credit for how he loses and wins.dal, who beat him more convincingly for the loss of only seven games at the 2020 French Open, and he is not getting any younger.
“I can always identify shortcomings, things that I might have done better. But I don’t believe it would have impacted the outcome of the match. From the start, he was at least half a step ahead of me in every manner.
Years from now, people will most likely be talking about the first game of the match: a 14-minute, seven-deuce, 20-point mini-epic that set the tone for what would follow.
Alcaraz had four break points. Four times, Djokovic made a save. The Centre Court gasped as the Spaniard struck spectacular return winners on the forehand and backhand sides, as well as makeable groundstrokes that went long or into the net.
When Djokovic eventually threw one wide and Alcaraz earned an early break, he relaxed like spa water. “The opening game was great,” Djokovic remarked. “It was one of the longest first games I’d ever played. It established the tone.
“I believe he was coming out of the blocks ready to compete and play at his best level straight away, which wasn’t the case last year, when I began better and won the first set comfortably,” he added. “He was there from the start today”He was ready.”
And then some. Last year, Alcaraz lost the first set 6-1. This year, he swept through it, losing only two games. Perhaps the most significant difference was the Spaniard’s serve, as he won 86% of first-serve points in the first and second sets.
It signalled that Djokovic was attempting to force the issue, but without success. In the opening set, he got to the net several times but only won four of twelve attempts. The pressure from Alcaraz had transformed him into a gambler who rolls the dice rather than plays the percentages.
The second group followed a similar pattern. At 4-2 down, Djokovic attempted a drop volley that would have won against virtually anybody else, only to see his opponent scurry and slide across the court to grab it and win the point – and soon the set
At this point, it appeared to be a mismatch: a 21-year-old in his prime taking on a 37-year-old who had undergone meniscus surgery on his knee 39 days before. Alcaraz appeared too swift, too charming, and too good. Tennis rackets are seldom handled like matador’s knives.
It tells something about Djokovic’s fortitude that he willed himself back into the game in the third set. But after a slight hiccup on match point, Alcaraz regained control and marched deeper into tennis history.
“I don’t consider myself a champion yet,” he explained. “But I’m going to attempt to keep going and develop my route, my voyage.”And it only seems a matter of time before he tells the big men to make room at the top table.
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