London, July 17: The Spanish world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz fought back from a set down to defeat Novak Djokovic in a five-set thriller, claiming his maiden Wimbledon men’s singles title, denying the Serbian legend a fifth consecutive crown at SW19 and prolonging his wait for a 24th major.
Alcaraz, the reigning US Open champion after winning the title last year, came up with an inspired performance to overcome Djokovic for a 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 victory that would now extend his stay at the top of the World Rankings.
“It’s a dream come true for me,” said Alcaraz. “As I said before, of course, it’s great to win, but even if I had lost, I would be really proud of myself for this amazing run. Making history in this beautiful tournament, playing a final against a legend of our sport.
“It’s a dream come true to be able to play on these stages. It’s amazing for a boy, 20 years old, to reach this kind of situation really fast. I’m really, really proud of myself and the team that I have. The work we put in every day, to be able to lift this,” Alcaraz said in his post-match address.
Alcaraz recovered from a shaky start to deliver a high-quality championship-match display and become just the fifth man in the Open Era to win multiple major titles before turning 21.
With this win, Alcaraz snapped Djokovic’s 34-match winning streak at Wimbledon with his four-hour, 42-minute victory. The 20-year-old, known for his huge groundstrokes and delicate touches, lit up the All England Club courts this fortnight and became just the fourth active male player to lift the trophy at the All England Club, after Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.
It was a disappointing end for Djokovic after he came to Wimbledon after winning the Australian and French Open titles. Djokovic was trying to win his fifth successive crown at Wimbledon and an eighth title in the grass-court major to equal Roger Federer’s record.
