20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz is the latest Grand Slam winner after beating seven-time winner, Novak Djokovic in a game of five sets in the final of the Wimbledon Championship. The Spaniard bounced back after losing the first set to win the next two sets before dropping the fourth set and finally winning the last set with a final score of 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 3-6 6-4.
With the win, Alcaraz has become the first man, outside of the Big 4 (Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray), to win the final at Wimbledon since 2003.
The world number one, who won the US Open title last year for his first Grand Slam title, ended Djokovic’s quest for an eighth Wimbledon title. The victory would have make Djokovic the man with the most Grand Slam titles as well as tied him with Margaret Court for the record of the most Grand Slam titles.
The match started with Djokovic establishing dominance quite early, with a resounding 6-1 defeat in the first set. Alcaraz later came back to win the second and third sets to solidify his position. But the fourth set would not be his as 36-year-old Djokovic capitalised on his opponent’s blunders to win the set. It was in the last set that Alcaraz fought with everything he had to win the second Grand Slam in his career.
After the match, Alcaraz reflected on how surreal it was to be playing in one of the highest levels of tennis at such a young age: “It is a dream come true for me. Even if I lost, I would have been proud of myself. To be able to play in these stages of these occasions – as a boy of 20 years old – is really fast. I’m really proud of myself.”
Speaking on his loss, Djokovic admitted that Alcaraz was the better player, and his loss may make up for some of his victories that should not have been: “I won many tough matches here. Maybe I have won a couple of finals I should have lost, so maybe this is even-steven.
“It is a tough one to swallow when you are so close. I lost to a better player; I have to congratulate him and move on – stronger hopefully.”
Sunday’s victory is proof of just how much of a rising star Alcaraz is. With two Grand Slam victories under his belt at age 20, it is quite clear that the future is very bright for him, and he has all it takes to become a tennis legend, like those before him.
Leon Osamor
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