What a finale! Alcaraz dethrones Djokovic

The 20-year-old beat Djokovic 1:6, 7:6 (8:6), 6:1, 3:6, 6:4 in an epic and high-class final on Sunday and celebrated his second Grand Slam -Title. Alcaraz had already won the US Open last year. With his triumph at Wimbledon, Alcaraz also defended number one in the world rankings.

Djokovic, who defeated Jannik Sinner in the semifinals, would have caught up with record winner Roger Federer with a win in London. In addition, with his 24th success at one of the four Grand Slam tournaments, he would have equaled the record set by the Australian Margaret Court. But nothing came of it. Alcaraz converted his first match point after 4:42 hours and was crowned king of Wimbledon. He also took revenge for his semi-final defeat at the French Open.

For Djokovic it was the first defeat at Wimbledon after 34 wins in a row. The 36-year-old Serb had recently won the grass classic four times in a row. Before the defeat against Alcaraz, Djokovic had last lost in the quarter-finals in London in 2017, when he had to retire injured at the start of the second set against the Czech Tomas Berdych.

Alcaraz with a horror start Everyone had been waiting for the duel between Djokovic and Alcaraz at Wimbledon for two weeks. And it did what it promised. Djokovic's first serve game lasted seven minutes. But after that, Alcaraz initially seemed a bit lost on the most prestigious tennis court in the world. Djokovic moved ahead to 5-0. It was only after 32 minutes that Alcaraz managed to win the game for the first time with a beautiful ball pass. The spectators cheered loudly - but two minutes later Djokovic took the first set 6-1.

Alcaraz then sat in his chair and looked around in disbelief. This was not how he had imagined his first final on the sacred turf. But Alcaraz shook himself and increased his strength. Djokovic, however, took a little mental break after the almost flawless first set. This is how the match that everyone had been looking forward to finally developed. Now the duel of the generations finally lived up to expectations. Alcaraz found his form, when the score was 3:3 he even forced Djokovic to dive and score the point. The spectators were absolutely thrilled. Djokovic tried everything, but Alcaraz couldn't be shaken off. On the contrary.

Djokovic gives up a tiebreak At the end of the second set, something happened that hardly anyone would have thought possible: Djokovic lost a tiebreak in a Grand Slam tournament. He had previously won 15 tiebreaks in a row in Melbourne, Paris and Wimbledon, thereby proving his inimitable nerve. But this time Alcaraz fended off a set point and won the tiebreak 8:6. After 1:59 hours of play, he equalized the set with a fantastic return winner. The celebration on Center Court was as big as if England had just won the World Cup for the first time since 1966.

Now Alcaraz played as if in a frenzy. While he had been plagued by cramps from the third set onwards in the semi-finals of the French Open, he was now fully there. The world number one managed a quick break and the momentum was now finally on his side. And then came the fifth game in the third set. Djokovic's serve game alone lasted 26 minutes - as long as a whole set often takes on grass. It went over 13 times before Alcaraz took advantage of his seventh break point and moved ahead to 4-1. A little later he took the lead with 2:1 sets in the eyes of the Spanish King Felipe VI.

Djokovic left the court for a bathroom break and to compose himself. And the Serb actually fought his way back into the game. He managed a break to make it 3:2 and another one to make it 6:3. The decision had to be made in the fifth set.

And there, too, the two tennis titans gave each other nothing. Almost every point was hotly contested, one spectacular rally followed the next. It was a great tennis moment that Alcaraz and Djokovic offered to the around 15.000 spectators on the sold-out Center Court. Alcaraz managed the decisive break in the fifth set to make it 2-1, Djokovic then hammered his racket against the net post in frustration and received a warning. But it didn't help. On that day, Alcaraz was simply too strong even for Djokovic.

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What a finale! Alcaraz dethrones Djokovic

The Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz won the lawn tennis classic at Wimbledon for the first time and prevented Novak Djokovic's eighth triumph. It was a final for the history books.

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