Carlos Alcaraz successfully defended his Wimbledon title with a largely one-sided 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 victory over Novak Djokovic.
Djokovic had been trying to enhance his reputation as the greatest of all time with a 25th grand slam title and eighth Wimbledon crown against a player trying to be the greatest of the new generation.
Jannik Sinner will remain No1 but, between him and Alcaraz, the top of this new era hold the first three grand slam trophies of the year.
Djokovic, meanwhile, faces the very real threat of only a second season in the past 14 without at least one grand slam title.
And he looked out of sorts from the start, struggling to have answers to Alcaraz’s aggression and only really coming to life in the third set.
He avoided the ignominy of this being his lowest number of games won in a grand slam final after saving three match points in the third set to force a tiebreak while his opponent has now won all four of the major finals he has played in.
Alcaraz started like he was in a hurry to get off court in time to catch Spain’s Euro 2024 final appearance against England and, from the outset, the 16-year age gap seemed to show.
Quite whether Djokovic was hampered by his knee remains to be seen having begun the tournament less than four weeks after undergoing surgery on a torn meniscus.
Hopes of a repeat of last year’s epic final were high after a 20-point opening game in which Alcaraz had five break points and finally converted one after 13 minutes.
The pair’s tactics were already clear at the outset, Djokovic looking to rush the net and Alcaraz going for all-out aggression.
He hit his fastest serve of the tournament at 136mph to win his first service game and continued to pile on the pressure against his opponent. It made Djokovic crack in game five, producing a horrible double fault when at break point.
The Serbian had the worst possible start to the second set when he was broken in the opening game, a 114mph second serve well returned by Alcaraz and Djokovic volleying it into the net.
He found himself another break point down when 4-2 behind after planting another volley into the net and a double fault left Alcaraz to serve out for the set and take a two-set lead after just an hour and a quarter on Centre Court.
Both players were under pressure in the third set, game six arguably the most pivotal. It lasted 12 minutes, Alcaraz faced two break points but he held to put himself that much closer to the title.
That created a sudden shift in pressure and he subsequently broke Djokovic to set himself up to serve for the title. He allowed three championship points to come and go, and was broken, giving Djokovic a lifeline as the set went into a tiebreak.
By then, the crowd were willing the match on and Djokovic, so often enduring a mixed relationship with fans on Centre Court, was finally feeling the Wimbledon love.
But any prospect of a late fightback, a fourth set and another classic were denied as Alcaraz won out the tiebreak 7-4.
