Right then – that, I guess, is us. Thanks all for your company and comments – sorry I couldn’t get to them all – not just today, but over the last fortnight. If anyone’s got any ideas as to what on earth we do tomorrow, I’m all ears, but in the meantime, congratulations to both our finalists – we might just’ve seen the start of a new era – and congratulations of Ons Jabeur and Markéta Vondrousová too. Otherwise, that is Wimbeldon 2023; peace out.
And breathe.
Cradling his new baby, Alcaraz says this is a dream come true. It’s great to win but even if he’d lost he’d still be proud of himself, making history, playing a final against a legend on this court. It’s amazing for a boy 20 years old reaching this stage so fast, he’s proud of himself and his team, the work they put in every day.
After the first set he thought “Carlos increase the level”, and says he started playing tennis watching Djokovic, who inspires him a lot, winning tournaments even when he was born.He quotes Djokovic, who said the other day that “36 is the new 26” and what he’s doing is amazing. He’s proud to have the King of Spain supporting him, he’s watched him twice and he’s won twice so hopes he comes more often.
Wimbledon is very special for him, he’s delighted to now be a member, and he will come and visit outside of the tournament for sure.
What a lovely young man he is.
“Good afternoon to everyone,” deadpans Djokovic, congratulating the champ and the nonsensical manner in which he responded to pressure. “Amazing, amazing … I thought I’ll have trouble with you on clay and maybe hard, not on grass … amazing way to adapt top the surface, you played maybe once or twice before this year … amazing, well done to your team.”
He says he you never like to lose matches like this but when the dust settles, he knows he’s won many matches like this, referencing 2019 against Federer, and has won many matches he should’ve lost “so this is even Steven.”
asked if he’s proud of what he’s achieved this year he says tomorrow he will be but not today. These are the moments you work for, he’s been blessed with many great moments but today he lost to a better player and I’ve no idea how he, or anyone in this position holds it down – my eyeballs are sweating and I’m just sitting here typing nonsense. He’s happy to see his son there still smiling, then pauses for a few seconds just to share a look, and I’m absolutely done … so is he. “I love you, thank you for supporting me. I’ll give you a big hug and we can all love each other.”
Now here comes Alcaraz, he holds the famous trophy and gently raises it to the crowd. He is Wimbledon champions and whatever else happens before he dies, no one will ever be able to take that away from him. Mazal tov, old mate.
Oh man, what a work of art that was. Nothing but sport can give us that. Gerry Armstrong, ending four years as referee, receives the applause of the crowd and a medal from Kate, likewise the umpire. Now here comes Djokovic, steeling himself for magnanimity. He raises his plate – he’s won seven of these, and though you only do that if you despise defeat, he’ll cope.
The net, battered post and all, is taken down, now here comes the presentation.
Alcaraz is in his box, his team going wild, leaping and dancing, and this is what it’s all about. Imagine experiencing this joy, this love, the fulfilment of a dream in real time, for us all to watch. Sport is undefeated, the greatest gift humanity has given itself, and Alcaraz sits on his chair then unwraps his sweatbands like he’s just finished practise, which reminds me of something Roy Keane once said of Raúl that when he won there were no histrionics because winning was what he’d worked for and what his talent deserved.
Carlos Alcaraz [1] beats Novak Djokovic [2] 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 6-4! He is the Wimbledon champion!
*Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 5-4 Djokovic The crowd go wild as Alcaraz returns to play the game of his life; every mile driven, every bead of sweat, every tear shed, was to bring him to this moment; can he cope? Well, he’s soon 0-15 down … but then yanks Djokovic in with a drop before finding a luscious lob for 15-all like it’s nothing. IT IS NOT NOTHING. Another drop follows, on the volley and on the stretch – these men are not human, they are awesome, half-man, half-amazing, and we wind up at 30-all. P-R-E-S-S-U-R-E. A booming serve follows, Djokovic unable to control a return on the stretch that soars long, then a colossal forehand forrces Djokovic to net, AND CARLOS ALCARAZ IS THE CHAMPION! WHAT A SENSATIONAL EFFORT FROM BOTH MEN! Alcaraz falls to the turf, he embraces Djokovic, he leaps, he kicks, and he races to share the moment with his team. What a moment, for everyone – not just Alcaraz but all the people who’ve sacrificed to make this happen! Amazing, amazing, amazing!
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Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 5-4 Djokovic* Alcaraz lands a return marginally long for 30-0, a service winner makes 40-0 … and though a forehand then drifts wide, the challenger clubs one of his own over the sideline meaning, in 90 seconds time, Carlitos Alcaraz will serve to become Wimbledon champion. Good luck and godspeed, old mate.
*Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 5-3 Djokovic Tennis’ T-1000 makes a ludicrous backhand get for 0-15 but balloons a backhand return when the new ball rears higher than expected then goes long, and this is slipping away. Then at 30-15, yet another glorious drop, like he’s playing with a kid in the garden, not just delicate but directed, wide away from Djokovic, raises game point … and an ace seals the deal. That is expletive rrrridiculous behaviour, holding to 15 from 0-15; one hold away. Djokovic will now serve to stay in the championships!
Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 4-3 Djokovic* OH MY ABSOLUTE COMPLETE AN UTTER DAYS! Serving at 30-15, Djokovic sends Alcaraz to the forehand corner, comes in … and is passed by a forehand cross-court so violent it leaves singe marks in the air and children crying. So Djokovic serves out wide, cleaning up with a backhand to the opposite corner, and another backhand seals a hold of disquieting composure. I feel ill.
*Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 4-2 Djokovic A fantastic approach from Djokovic, punkt onto the line, is good for 0-15, so a second serve at a mere 121mph is backed up with a dangerous forehand that brings parity. Djokovic, though, lands another decent return and Alcaraz goes long, but then handed a second serve, he does likewise, raising arms in anguish; 30-all. Ach, and offered another chance, the breeze holds the ball such that when he attacks it it drifts long, and Alcaraz secures the game with an ace. Two holds from glory, and he’s shown not the slightest flicker of nerves here. The winning line, though, is now in sight, a spectre that does funny things.
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Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 3-2 Djokovic* Up 40-0, Djokovic nets a backhand, but a backhand into the corner suffused with the disgust of those missed balls in his previous service game, means he holds easily. Over to you, Carlitos.
*Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 3-1 Djokovic Carlitos is flying, and we’re on his back! This is wonderful to see, a love hold sealed with an ace – an out of body experience for him never mind us. Three holds away.
Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 2-1 Djokovic* A murderous forehand forces Djokovic to chase out wide, but the job he makes of retrieving it means Alcaraz’s follow-up backhand needs to be good … and of course it’s even better than good. Djokovic, though soon makes 15-all, only for Alcaraz to find a wrongfooting backhand, backed up with a leaping overhead on the run … four and a quarter hours into the match. So Djokovic makes 30-all … then nets a forehand, and now it’s the challenger with a chance to break! Can the champ find a first serve? What do you think? Of course he can! But, on top in the rally, he can’t quite put the point away … Alcaraz won’t permit him to put the point away … he then slips, gets up, and when he drops short with a forehand, Alcaraz punishes a backhand winner down the line for the blow that might just win him the championships! He again cups an ear at the crowd, Djokovic clumps racket into net post, shattering one and denting t’other and is warned … but when all’s said and done it’s the challenger with the break! He’s four holds away from the title!
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*Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 1-1 Djokovic Djokovic makes 0-15 but yet another fit as you like drop brings Alcaraz parity. We wind up at 30-all, whereupon a deep return followed by a booming forehand into the corner raise break point. I said earlier Djokovic was Raputing, but now I’m getting Max Cady, De Niro’s character in Cape Fear, and yet another sapping, fluctuating rally, each player tipping it in their favour by upping the pace, ends when the champ takes a forehand out of the air having done all the hard work, only to net! Alcaraz salutes the crowd, in relief as much as in pride, then lays a drop that’s so good it’s actually funny to make advantage. He must have the resting heart-rate of a sloth, and two vicious, violent forehands secure the game after another fantastic Djokovic return looks to have snatched control of the point. We are privileged to be living in their time.
Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 0-1 Djokovic* Chale, here we go! It’s rare a match lives up to the hype, but it’s also rare a match seemed so certain to live up to the hype. There’s a skill aspect, of course, and these two are overflowing with that, but what makes them them and this this is the competitive charisma of these two. Their presence on the court, their certainty in what they’re doing, the ability to channel everything they’ve ever thought and experienced into the racket they hold is what sets them apart, and as I type that, Alcaraz puts a way a touch volley for 30-all, then lovingly caresses a backhand winner down the line as Djokovic comes in! Break point! And just look at that! A second serve down the T is too good even at 76mph, but up advantage and with game point almost in the back pocket, Alcaraz finds delicious swazz on a forehand down the line, ball barely off the carpet. He’s an absolute magician, but Djokovic again gets to within a point of the game and when a slice drops long, he’s into the lead. He;s the better player again, and at change of ends we see that he’s stepped forward a yard or so so is now hitting from inside the baseline. That’s one reason he’s dictating the rallies again; can Alcaraz adjust?
*Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 Djokovic Djokovic races in to flip a backhand winner down the line and a double means he’s two points away from the set. It’s absolutely mind-boggling what’s going on here – Djokovic looked finished except he’s never finished, the Rasputin of tennis, and an error from Alcaraz means he has three set points. The first is saved but the second yields a double, and after three hours and 54 minutes, we and they have to suffer through the decider we and they deserve. I am in absolute awe of these two meshuggners, I cannot wait to see what happens next and I’ve not the slightest clue as to what’s coming next. These are the days of our lives, people.
Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-5 Djokovic* The wind, we’re told, has dropped, and it was Djokovic who was affected by it the more. At 15-0, he plays a really good point, again the more aggressive man, and it does look like the match is coming down to that: who can get off first. It’s a love hold, and we’ve had yet another momentum shift; Alcaraz will now serve to stay in the fourth.
*Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-4 Djokovic Eeeeesh! Djokovic despatches an overhead for 15-all and Alcaraz slips into the jazz splits like MC Hammer … but he’s fine, a service winner restoring his sense of (relative) wellbeing. From there, he closes out, cementing the game with an ace, and how on earth might we tackle a decider?
Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 2-4 Djokovic* What Djokovic wouldn’t give for a straightforward hold here, but at 15-0 Alcaraz again does that thing, shockingly increasing the venom on the forehand side for a cross-court winner that his opponent applauding. The intensity of this is almost tear-inducing, two absolute legends emptying their souls for our delectation, for the glorification of humankind, and Djokovic secures a crucial consolidation to 30! Will someone please hold me?
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*Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 2-3 Djokovic Is Djokovic returning? A big forehand sets up a delicate volley, and he’s hitting harder and flatter now, looking to regain the initiative. A poor backhand into the net means he’s down 30-15, but an alcarazian error makes 30-all, then a forehand flies wide and Djokovic has break point! It’d be the height of him to seize it, but he goes long on the backhand – just, but unnecessarily – then a tremendous return forces a netted riposte and here comes another opportunity. And Alcaraz lands his first serve but Djokovic plans a return close to the line, the challenger goes long, challenges … and the outermost fibre of the ball catches the outermost fibre of chalk! They replay the point, Alcaraz comes in behind his serve, winds up … and caresses a gorgeous drop … then nets again! The deuces in this match have been as good as in any match I can remember, and this is expletive wonderful stuff, Alcaraz again snatching momentum in the rally by suddenly upping pace, but this time Djokovic directs a fantastic backhand at his tootsies and he nets at net! The champ has his break! He blows a kiss at the crowd, Alcaraz clobbers his chair, and we’ve yet another improbable twist!
Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 2-2 Djokovic* At 30-0 I find myself shouting in a room on my bill, Djokovic apparently doing enough only for Alcaraz to stomp a huge stride and send his overhead screeching back across him and cross-court, racket almost vertical and shoulder-high! From there, it’s soon 30-all, an ace out wide challenged and revealed to be fractionally wide. Djokovic, though, conjures an angle to whizz a terrific backhand winner to the corner … only to find something similar defeating his stretch, a slice bringing him in to set up the forehand winner from Alcaraz. No matter, Djokovic then does the necessary, running around his backhand to send a forehand into the corner which seals a crucial and probably title-saving hold.
“What do you make of the pre-serve shenanigans of the two players?” asks Gavin Scott. “Djokovic with up to 13 bounces from hand before a serve and Alcaraz collecting four balls then rejecting two, one to each ball boy? No wonder the match is taking so long.”
Real talk, I’m rough and crook, so I’m desperate for this match to be over, except I’m also celebrating anything that makes it last longer because I spend my life seeking out contests like this, and on the odd occasion I’m lucky enough to live one, I’ll take anything that ups the drama and suspense.
*Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 2-1 Djokovic What’s so brilliant about this – OK, lots of things are so brilliant about this – but one thing that’s so brilliant about this is Alcaraz doing to Djokovic what Djokovic did to him in Paris, turning his strengths against him to the point of exhaustion. Alcaraz is playing with such conviction now, coming in to punch a backhand volley then clobbering an ace for 40-15. And even when great work from Djokovic makes 40-30, he’s made to play two more balls than he might’ve done after which a backhand down the line goes into the top of the net – that was a chance – but he does work his way to deuce then, up advantage, Alcaraz doubles. Will he be punished? Er, maybe! Up advantage again, a forehand down the line hits the net cord and makes deuce, but then with the next rally pootling along, Alcaraz suddenly unloads the suitcase at a forehand, puts away the eventuating volley, closes out, and Djokovic looks anguished!
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Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 1-1 Djokovic* Alcaraz stays in the point, Djokovic-style, the error duly follows, and a ball onto the line makes 0-30. I daresay Djokovic now regrets that double-break game, and when Alcaraz annihilates a forehand winner he’s left flat on his face like a lizard drinking. Two break points, and if one is taken, it’ll be impossible to see a way back even for this obscene specimen of physiological perfection … but a backhand winner down the line saves the first and a long forehand the second. Deuce, and I’m wincing at the prospect so can’t begin to contemplate the evilness of the flashbacks Djokovic is experiencing, but a tremendous stretch-volley makes advantage and a big serve secures a hold of Ade Akinfenwa proportions.
“I’ve been going to Wimbledon for over 60 years, I’m from Wimbledon, and I worked at the Championships during student days,” says Rob Lewis, “and I don’t remember such a long game - 32 points! Is that a record? I felt for your fingers, typing about it. Never mind the players, how could they withstand that pressure for so long?”
*Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 1-0 Djokovic From 0-30, Alcaraz makes 30-all, then Djokovic nets and almost looks resigned. A service winner follows, Alcaraz dances to his chair, and he’s playing like a boy – like a boy-man – who knows. Djokovic has never been beaten at Wimbledon from a set up, a ludicrous state of affairs, but he looks all but beaten this afternoon.
Djokovic is back from what Tim termed “the bathroom break of his life” – what an accolade that is! To the regiment I wish I was there! – and we go again.
“What a damp squib end to that third set from Djok - he just ‘Kyrgyossed’ the final game!” reckons James W. “And Carlitos, serving first in the fourth set, surely has to fancy himself now. Unless Djok Andy-Murrays himself from being down 2-1 in sets via a bathroom mirror, comin’ right up! Needs a change of tactics I feel - Alcaraz is winning all the long rallies the last hour or so. Djok needs to keep points short. Get his first serve sorted.”
He needs to find a way of leading, whether by keeping Alcaraz moving or going for lines, because at the moment, it’s the kid controlling the pace of the rallies by going big sooner.
Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 Djokovic* A forehand winner down the line makes 0-30, Djokovic nets a forehand volley, and now faces three set points; does he let this one go? I imagine he’ll want Alcaraz to serve out and go first in the fourth, but at 40-15 a backhand pass catches him coming in, AND CARLOS ALCARAZ IS A SET AWAY FROM BECOMING WIMBLEDON CHAMPION! More than that, though, he’s dominating – dominating in a way we rarely see Djokovic dominated – and shonuff, off he goes for a lag and a reset. Mates, what we’re seeing here is spectacular; make sure to savour every last second of it.
*Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 5-1 Djokovic The last thing Djokovic needs is a swift hold but Alcaraz races to 30-0, a netted forehand makes 40, and the hold is secured to 15! I daresay Djokovic will take a break of some sort at the end of this set; two sets down against Sinner last term, he went for a slash and had a chat with himself in the mirror, but this an entirely different affair.
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Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 4-1 Djokovic* Djokovic makes 30-15, then 40-15 with a nice backhand volley. He needs to find a way of dictating the points because at the moment he’s reacting, forced to dig out a hopeful pass that’s easily put away at the net behind a booming backhand. Then, at 40-30, a backhand slices drifts wide, but a much more proactive forehand yields advantage, but one into the net brings us back to deuce. Djokovic isn’t unloading on his groundstrokes now, and that tentative approach is allowing his opponent to dictate … though, as a I type that, a backhand down the line raises another game point, this one given up with a slice into the net. In his box, Goran looks concerned, and how is this only the third set? Somehow, it feels like we’ve been playing three minutes but also three days, and an error from Djokovic means he’s facing a point for a double break … saved when Alcaraz frames a forehand. This time, he’s much more aggressive, a forehand onto the sideline doing the business … but a similar shot is then sent wide, and Alcaraz will know that this is his chance because these are not errors we see often, certainly not in such quantities. So, perhaps to get himself going, Djokovic picks a ruckus with the umpire, I think about the balls not being returned to him quickly enough given his struggles with the shot-clock – how dare time not bend to his will – and a double means he’s facing another break point, saved when Alcaraz botches a forehand that has him chuntering at his box. This is now a stone-cold, bona fide epic, Djokovic netting a backhand to bring about a seventh deuce, and even if he moves through it, he’s still behind, a sobering thought. But again, Alcaraz is on top in the next rally, a monstrous forehand the key shot, but a backhand down the line is well wide so brings us back to deuce. I’m exhausted just watching these two absolute, complete and utter freaks of nature; to see sport played so well and so hard is among the most moving things on our planet, and when a ball flies into the crowd, the bloke who picks it up is publicly admonished for deciding it’s now his. All he wanted to do was save it further punishment, but he’s ordered to send it back, then Djokovic surrenders and saves yet another double-break point only to immediately yield another, and the pace is telling! A huge serve regains deuce and if he loses this game, I wonder if he lets the set leave so he’s got something left for the fourth; opposite, Alcaraz grins, just getting started, and once more break point to the good; he’s hitting the net a lot here, not getting to or hitting with the same pop as previously, and we’re now at our 12th deuce; I am in total awe of these total nutters, their monomania equal parts inspirational and terrifying, and just as it looks like Djokovic, now up advantage, has sealed the game with a succession of forehands, Alcaraz unleashes a backhand like a hadouken then raises his seventh breaking opportunity in this Ben Hur of games, and THIS TIME, AFTER 32 POINTS, DJOKOVIC NETS! He roars to the heavens, relief and elation expanding his mind, and he’s two games away from a 2-1 lead! The old man is tottering, and this is some of the most gloriously wild existing we can possibly imagine!
“I don’t like Djokovic, for a good many reasons,” begins Matt Dony, “but he is obviously a phenomenal player. And also one of the most mentally indestructible athletes I’ve ever seen. He fairly often drops a set, or looks like he might have a wobble, but somehow you still almost always expect him to win. It’s like he has some superhuman ability to put a poor shot/game/set behind him and go again. All elite sportspeople have got, by definition, a lot of self-belief. But Djokovic is on another level.”
Yup, but he’s being tested here because as in Paris, it’s Alacaraz getting off first now, and there’s no cramp – admittedly caused by him – coming to the rescue.
*Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 3-1 Djokovic In comms, Todd Woodbridge notes that Alcaraz is varying his speed of shot to good effect, and even more than that, it’s now him setting the agenda of the points – it feels a long time since Djokovic hit a winner from the back. But two errors leave him facing 15-30, and a test … then another error and two break-back points follow. The first is saved when a ball holds up in the wind and Djokovic nets, then one shoots through and he frames it! Deuce! Carlitos, these are the days of your life can you seize them? A drop makes advantage then a return loops long, and in Alcaraz’s box, his little brother is on his feet! Imagine that, watching your big bro play the Wimbledon singles final; how do you even handle that? Well, I’m pleased to report he’s doing a fine job.
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Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 2-1 Djokovic* Alcaraz is enjoying himself now, making 15-all with a flip down the line and slam-dunk smash, Djokovic then netting to give him another sniff. Quickly extinguished, at least in the first instance, a glorious net exchange settled by a stretching volley that cuts off a forehand cross-court. From there, Djokovic closes out, and he’s still in touch in the third. This is like that bit on a roller coaster when you’re chugging and clicking uphill…
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*Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 2-0 Djokovic Whatever happens from here, Alcaraz has made a statement today: he’s ready. But is he ready enough? Gosh, at 30-15 a poor shot sits up to be punished but Djokovic, having to supply all his own pace, goes at it too hard, and shortly afterwards the consolidation is sealed via netted return.
“Alcaraz has started serving a lot better,” reckons Coach Calv. “I didn’t think Djokovic was that amazing in the first, he was solid and Alcaraz served badly. He’s doing better now and Novak is gonna have to get more aggressive cos Alcaraz is getting on top of him.”
Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) 1-0 Djokovic* Novak Djokovic just lost a tiebreak! Whatever next? Well, an ace for 30-15, then a ball that dies on him for 30-all, hitting a bit of grass rubbed away by footfall … then two monstrous forehands raise break point! Alcaraz is in the ascendancy now, can he capitalise? Er, not immediately, a tame backhand handing over deuce, but a sliced backhand then sets up a big forehand, and when Djokovic comes in, he’s passed cross-court! Advantage Alcaraz … and after Djokovic has a let called – there’s displeasure – a backhand into the net gives him the break! For the first time in the match, it’s the challenger in charge!
Don’t forget: this isn’t the only incredible sport bestowed upon us this afternoon.
Alcaraz 1-6 7-6(6) Djokovic AND THERE IT IS! A first serve –another first serve – out wide, but this time Alcaraz follows it and, as Djokovic comes in behind it, he spirits a colossal, match-shaping, life-changing backhand winner down the line! Do we got oursleves a ball-game? We got ourselves a ball-game, and now it’s Alcaraz cupping ear to the crowd! What a match we have on our hands now! Don’t you dare go away!
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Alcaraz 1-6 6-6 (7-6) Djokovic At 5-5, we know this breaker will come down to a moment, and when Djokovic wins a net-point at the end of a 17-stroker rally, the crowd chant his name as he prepares to play set point. Maybe it’s reverse-psychology. And shonuff he nets for 6-6 the nets a backhand, and now it’s his turn to serve at set-point down! Even the infallible fail sometimes!
Alcaraz 1-6 6-6 (5-5) Djokovic Now then! Djokovic, a long way back, nets a disguised slice and it’s ridiculous how surprising it is to see him pick the wrong option under intense pressure. A big serve, bigger forehand and delicate drop follow – those are hands – but Alcaraz sticks with it, flipping a wrongfooting forehand into the corner to keep us level. Next, a long rally, the kind Djokovic almost always wins, but this time, a fantastic drop disguised as a mass-murderous forehand keeps us on serve. And this time, Djokovic runs out of time to serve, so he’s warned … then finds a fine backhand when in trouble in the rally, but at the net, Alcaraz can only net his volley. This is intense!
Alcaraz 1-6 6-6 (2-3) Djokovic Immediately, Alcaraz goes long, ceding the mini-break, and two first serves follow; of course they do, and it’s 3-0 Djokovic. A return then drops long, though, bringing the challenger into the breaker, and an ace sliced out wide keeps the deficit to one.
Alcaraz 1-6 6-6 Djokovic* A break here would make a very strong point and a double at 15-0 invites Alcaraz into the game, but a lazy long return means Djokovic is two points away from a breaker. And he dominates the next rally too, but when he plays two identical forehands to the backhand corner, Alcaraz mixes up his response, a slice inciting the error, and now he’s two points away from the set. From there, of course, Djokovic closes out in short order, and he’s won 15 breakers straight – six in Paris without a single unforced error and six more here. Good luck, Carlitos old mate.
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*Alcaraz 1-6 6-5 Djokovic Yup, an unforced error hands Djokovic 0-15 and Alcaraz needs to focus here … and does, a monstrous backhand down the line setting up the point even though Djokovic gets it back; he can’t, though, make his next forehand. It’s unbelievable how hard Alcaraz is having to work for everything, likewise his capacity for that work and the alacrity with which he’s embracing it, a brutal serve down the T securing the game and forcing Djokovic to serve for a second-set breaker.
Alcaraz 1-6 5-5 Djokovic* Usually, new balls favour the server, but I wonder if Alcaraz will attack here – if he can. Well he doesn’t have to to begin with, the extra zip taking a Djokovic forehand wide, but when a tremendous get to a fine attempted pass sits up for a backhand winner, he snatches at it, sending it cross-court but wide, before netting another opportunity down the line; 30-15. He makes 30-all though, then Djokovic butchers a forehand that’s called out; he challenges and we see that it dropped onto the final fibre of the line or, put another way, he catches that clean and he’s set point down. So we wind up at deuce, and I wonder if the match is here: Alcaraz has been handed three unforced errors, and if he can’t parlay them into anything tangible, you’d fear for him. And, well, oh Carlitos! He plays a slice when he shouldn’t, perhaps spooked by the lad on the other side of the net, hits that net, and then when Alcaraz plays a luscious drop, Djokovic runs it down, just, somehow gets it back via net-cord, and when he finishes the point with another drop, flicked over and across, for the first time he looks despondent. I’m not surprised, and I’m afraid I’m anticipating a break in the next game.
“People criticising Djokovic’s behaviour and praising Rafa’s?” asks Oliver Loksa. “Remember the absurd amount of time Nadal used to take before important serves? Each player has her’his way to settler her/himself and destabilise the opponent. C’mon...”
I agree – and, what’s more, I enjoy it.
*Alcaraz 1-6 5-4 Djokovic Between games, Djokovic shouts in Srrbo-Croat which makes me think BBC should employ a translator like fight promotions do so we can hear what’s said in corners between rounds. Anyhow, Alcaraz nets, then dematerialises a forehand winner that Brad Pitt likes very much, and there’s little praise richer than that. An ace out wide follows, and this is now a very serious contest, intense, punishing and enveloping … but a few Alcaraz errors from slipping away from him and us. As I type that, though, it’s Djokovic who slips chasing a forehand and at 40-15, a service winner means he must now serve to stay in set two.
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Alcaraz 1-6 4-4 Djokovic* The shot-clock appears to stop when Djokovic is slow to serve, not in the action of it but in returning to the line once time is called. Naturally, he quickly makes 15-0, but then nets a backhand to bring Alcaraz into the game. So Djokovic ups the power on the forehand, which reminds me of a time I watched him play Murray at the o2 where, from high up, you get a really good idea of how hard they’re hitting it. Murray’s shots were noticeably more venomous, but of course Djokovic beat him, and he holds here to 15. Talking of Murray, I should say that he’s in the house this afternoon because who doesn’t want to watch this – what a shame injury robbed him of the ability to compete at this level.
*Alcaraz 1-6 4-3 Djokovic Alcaraz played two perfect points at the start of that game, but it was nowhere near enough. This, though, is excellent, a love hold completed with an ace, and Djokovic is back serving again seconds after fighting his arse off for a hold.
“Re: Nole not winning any popularity stakes and people refusing to admire him for the insane tennis he is playing for over 15 years,” says James W. “Since when was professional sport about being popular, and not, like, I dunno, WINNING? I think Fed and Nad are to ‘blame’ for this. They were nice middle-class kids from nice comfortable Western European middle class upbringing, with nice hair, and manners (I wouldn’t say Novak doesn’t have manners either?). The social media angle amplified this and made this almost a prerequisite to being a great sportsman, when in no tennis decade was this ever necessary? Remember how McEnroe/Connors/Nastase used to behave? Does anybody say they were anything other than great tennis players (Novak doesn’t berate the umpires or grab his crotch in front of the fans)? I don’t think so. Novak’s career will not be fully appreciated till he retires, maybe even a decade after he does so. And yet here is a man who invariably has warm victory/defeat speeches to impart, reads the room a lot better than people give him credit for at speaks (at least) seven languages (and does a lot for charidee)! And I say this as a Federer fan. Sure, some stuff like no vaccine and the Australia/Adria tour situation did not help his popularity, but he was mostly hated by the casual tennis fans (which is to say, *most* of them) way before any of that happened. Those things just amplified people’s prejudices against him - their mind had long been made up about him. Confirmation bias?”
I don’t think people refuse to admire his tennis, but for various reasons, some of which you list, he’s never quite connected with many of the people others have. But the Wimbledon crowd never really took to Connors and McEnroe until they started losing, which is as mindblowing now as then.
Alcaraz 1-6 3-3 Djokovic* Oh man, between games we learn that Annabel Croft, who’ll be looking after the presentation ceremony, recently lost her husband, Mel; long life and godspeed, old mate. Back on court, another long rally to open game six, this time well won by Alcaraz, who then smokes an inside-out backhand onto the line for 0-30! We said earlier that the speed at which he learns is absurd, and he’s already processed information he picked up in set one to compete in set two, only to cede his advantage in short order. That’s the thing with playing Djokovic – everything is a fight – and two first serves elicit two long returns, and this set is already 42 minutes old!
*Alcaraz 1-6 3-2 Djokovic Again, Djokovic goes in hard to the Alcaraz forehand and again he gets the result he wants, ball netted for 0-15; an ace quickly redeems the situation. We wind up at deuce and it feels like the champ is upping the ante again though, as I type that, Alcaraz plays a gorgeous backhand volley that his opponent theatrically applauds; what a mensch! He can’t close out his first advantage, but he rushes through his second, and we’re hitting a standard here – though for our drama, we need the challenger to find a way in this set.
“Have you noticed how Djokovic always plays the crowd, albeit subtly, to destabilise his opponent when he wants to mentally distract him?” asks Josephine Pallandt. “So contrary to fair play, not worthy of any win really, I miss Federer and Nadal’s professionalism and fair play so much. Cannot wait for Djokovic to be beaten properly for this righteous behaviour to leave tennis. No matter how much you win, a winner is something else altogether to me!”
I know what you mean but I love the theatre and the edge – it’s a contest out there, with lots of different elements, and I’m not sure Nadal was averse to deploying gamesmanship when it suited him.
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Alcaraz 1-6 2-2 Djokovic* Is Djokovic the greatest matchplayer we’ve ever seen, any sport? Phil Taylor is up there, but there aren’t many even in the same postcode – Floyd Mayweather, I guess, is there, Alex Volkanovski is building a case and Georges St-Pierre already has, but back on court, Alcaraz makes 0-30 then nets a forehand he ought to have made. He does, though, find himself at 30-40 – Djokovic isn’t getting as many first serves in as earlier – whereupon we enjoy 29 shots of evil endurance before Alcaraz errs, Djokovic cupping an ear and noising up the crowd to appreciate his earth-shattering magnificence as much as he does. A lush riposte to a drop, flicked over and across the net, followed by a service winner, duly secure the hold, and this is becoming everything we hoped it’d be.
“Alcaraz,” begins Jeremy Boyce. “I’m not sure he’s overawed by the occasion, nothing seems to phase him. I think it’s more he’s just trying a little bit TOOOOO hard and needs to crank back down a notch or too. Put it down to yoof. And the fact that he’s facing the ultimate tennis assassin.”
Yeah, I’d go with the second point more than the first – he’s been denied the scope to which he’s used, and once it becomes a battle of consistency rather than strokemaking, there’s only one winner.
*Alcaraz 1-6 2-1 Djokovic Apparently the King of Spain is in attendance, which is surprising as I assumed Gilo would be watching the ODI. Oh, the other King of Spain. Alcaraz makes 15-all with a volley, saluting the crowd, and this time when Djokovic elasticlimbs another get, he’s there to burn a forehand winner into the vacated space. He’s a presence on court now, like he’s just nutted a brick to guzzle a mushroom, and even when a net cord takes a forehand away from him, he’s still able to make 40-30. Djokovic forces him to deuce, though, a lob sails long to raise break-back point, at at the end of another long rally, Alcaraz swipes a forehand topspin cross-court and wide, Djokovic roaring at the crowd for their audacity in wanting to see a contest. like mac before him, he’s incredible at converting antipathy into points.
Alcaraz 1-6 2-0 Djokovic* Now, can Alcaraz put pressure on the Djokovic serve? He did in the first game of the match, so knows he can, and what’s that? A fault, followed by one of the worst deliveries you’ll ever see landing two feet inside the advantage court! And when Djokovic goes long on the backhand, a chance for Alcaraz! Djokovic made just two unforced errors in set one and he’s quickly back into stride here, a slice and a volley closing the gap in this game. AND HAVE A LOOK! Alcaraz opens shoulders to unleash a shrieking forehand, except Djokovic stretches into a phenomenal get, switches momentum with a backhand down the line and second later puts away a forehand at the net. I’m sorry, that is obscene behaviour, absolutely soul-curdling for Alcaraz, who responds well when trailing 40-30, slamming down an overhead for deuce, and now then! Djokovic misses a riposte to a drop, sarcastically applauding the crowd when they cheer the prospect of a contest, before a service winner makes deuce again. Meantime in comms, they note that Djokovic is using every split second of his allotted service time, and when Alcaraz earns advantage, Djokovic drags a forehand wide! At the end of an eight-minute game, the challenger lands his first shot!
“I’m not Djokovic’s biggest fan,” says Simon McMahon, “though you’ve got to admire him if nothing else, and having watched my team lose their first competitive fixture of the new football season (!) yesterday to a side who were playing in the Scottish Lowland League last season, I was hoping Alcaraz might stop the Novak juggernaut today. Shows how much I know. Still, that picture of Stefan Edberg cheered me up.”
*Alcaraz 1-6 1-0 Djokovic This is more like it, Alcaraz making 40-15 before a high-kicking serve is framed wide.
“Alcaraz is playing some spectacular shots,” writes Colum Fordham, “but the wily old champion Novak always seems to have the answer. The young Spaniard seems slightly overawed by the occasion, underhitting or overhitting his shots. The difference in experience is telling. But who knows? Alcatraz may still get out of jail.”
Yup, a 6-1 set is still only a set – provided Alcaraz can get himself going with a proper level of consistency.
Alcaraz 1-6 Djokovic* At 15-0, Alcaraz shouts towards his box, trying to get himself going – though he’s not playing badly, exactly, more his opponent is playing better and exploiting every little error he makes. A big second serve gives Djokovic 30-0, a netted return raises three set points, and a forehand onto the line yields an overhead despatched with minimum fuss and maximum prejudice. That is a sonning-off of a set if ever I’ve seen one, an absolute lesson in how to play opponent and occasion. Meantime, Henry Searle of Great Britain has won the boys’ singles, beating Yaroslav Demin 4 and 4.
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*Alcaraz 1-5 Djokovic It’s hard not to watch this and think of GBG favourite, Ons, who was crushed by the pressure yesterday despite playing in her second one of these. I guess this time, it was the expectation – she thought she was going to win and celebrate the moment of her life – but the point stands: for all the incredible skills of these players is incredible, what’s more incredible still is their ability to execute them, consistently, when it’s as intense as this. Meantime, Alcaraz again faces 30-all and has to work like an animal for his putaway, before sticking a terrific forehand down the line for his first game of the match. It’s taken him 31 minutes and already the crowd are going wild for him, feart that this’ll be a blowout. Djokovic must now serve for the first set.
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Alcaraz 0-5 Djokovic* When I watch matches like this I think of what Jack Slack, the great MMA analyst says, about facing a serious opponent: take away what they do well. So Djokovic is going hard to the Alcaraz forehand, preventing him from winding up on it, and he holds to 15. And here’s the thing: he can play better than this.
*Alcaraz 0-4 Djokovic Alcaraz will be feeling it as he serves, and Djokovic increases the angst with a banging forehand return when sent out wide for 0-15 then, at 15-all, elicits a slip by dropping the dropper. Quickly, it’s 15-40, and trouble for Alcaraz, who responds well saving both break points when Djokovic first goes long then nets a return. So to deuce, and a netted backhand – which follows a remorseless backhand onto the line – means a further break point, and when Alcaraz nets a backhand, that’s the double break! I hate to say it but this is, so far a lesson for the youngster – he’s not getting outplayed, exactly, but he is learning about the level of consistency it takes to challenge this bot on this stage.
Alcaraz 0-3 Djokovic* Alcaraz makes 15-30, a development which precipitates the longest and best rally of the match so far, the ball screeching in pain as it’s hammered back and forth before Djokovic steps in to force the error. Alcaraz then misses narrowly with a tweener, burning a challenge in the process, and a service winner closes out another tight service game; already the difference here is Djokovic on the big points.
“Djokovic is incroyable, of course,” says Gregory Phillips, “and quite possibly the GOAT, but I think too much is made of his head-to-head advantage over Nadal and Federer in particular. Federer’s peak (04-09) was over by the time Djokovic’s began in 2011. That said, and as difficult as it can be to warm to him, Djokovic is astonishingly good and it will take an amazing effort to beat him. But if anyone can do it...”
I think the thing with Djokovic is that what do you target if you play him? If I need someone to play a match to save my life, I don’t even have to think about who I’m picking.
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*Alcaraz 0-2 Djokovic (denotes server) Djokovic was already a pro when Alcaraz was born, that is rrrridiculous, and it’s the youngster who looks tight now, overhitting a forehand then being passed with a forehand cross-court, ceding 0-30. That’s why he opted to receive, and when a gust of wind catches a Djokovic groundstroke, the ball holds in the air and Alcaraz larrups long to hand over three break points. He saves the first when Djokovic goes long and the second with an inside-out leaping forehand winner, but when he leaves a half-courter, Djokovic punishes a forehand that he can only redirect over the baseline! First blood to the champ!
Alcaraz 0-1 Djokovic* (denotes server) Djokovic begins with a service winner out wide, but a backhand down the line is good enough for 15-all. And have a look! Djokovic’s second serve is perhaps his sole remaining weakness and Alcaraz devours this one, spanking a forehand winner cross-court as his man slips. It’s soon 30-all though, at which point Djokovic arranges a backhand putaway at the net … only to hit that net! I said Alcaraz would be nervous, but you almost never see that man miss those shots; it gets to everyone. Naturally, a service winner quickly extinguishes break point, Alcaraz now kiai-ing his shots, shouting before rather than as he plays them, and after one game point is retreived, Djokovic closes out for a protracted hold.
And … play!
Alcaraz wins the toss and, as per the current vogue, elects to receive. I’m not surprised he wants to ease himself in with a game he doesn’t have to win, and the two men pose, arms around, for a photo at the net. Djokovic is affecting – and, no doubt feels – overwhelming confidence. Alcaraz still hasn’t shaved, presumably because it’s bein hametzarim, the three weeks – the period between the walls of Jerusalem being breached and the destruction of the temple.
Here’s a colossal tune in that regard.
I’m pleased to note that my post-McEnroe and Martina childhood favourite, Stefan Edberg, is in the house. In terms of gear, only Andre Agassi comes close.
Here come our players!
Big Suze in the house!
Sophie Winkleman and Lord Frederick Windsor attend day fourteen of The Championships, #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/DwPCZLBDqB
— Spotted @ Wimbledon (@CelebsWimbledon) July 16, 2023
And here’s Freddie Windsor in 1996.
Also going on:
And there’s been a development at the Rose Bowl!
Regular readers will also have heard me whining about illness, so here’s what I learnt from a GP mate this morning: if you’re feeling nauseous, eat salty crackers.
On which point, regular readers will be wondering where Calvin Betton, our resident coach, has got to with telling who’s going to win and how, but wonder no more because here he is: “Will hang on how well Alcaraz attacks. Novak will basically set his stall out then dare Alcaraz to win the match. He’ll hit to a length and move him around. If Alcaraz attacks well I think he’ll win. But I think Djokovic will probably win.”
On which point, I say this a lot, but tennis has the furthest to go in terms of explaining the technicalities of the game with a pro’s eye. This pod does this better than anything else I’ve heard or watched.
Email! “So here we are, another Wimbledon final,” says James W. “I will take Djokovic to win, just, (7-5 in the fifth set). Pretty sure Alcaraz wins the first set. If not, It’s Djok in 4.”
There are very few outcomes that’d surprise me, but but Djokovic in four looks good. I’d expect him to win the first though, because Alcaraz is more likely to be nervous, especially given what happened in Paris.
Talking of Becker losing to Doohan, here’s a Joy of Six from the vault taking in that and other upsets.
Ah man, we’re watching footage of Pat Cash winning Wimbledon – what a moment that was. I remember him saying that when Boom Boom lost to Peter Doohan – imagine the double defending champ playing on Court 2 these days – he knew no one left in the draw could beat him, and explains now that he was a pioneer in terms of having a team, who he went to greet at the moment of victory.
This made me laugh.
I can’t speak to this specific instance because i didn’t see it. Novak doesn’t come to my mind when I think of this rule, BUT some players I can think of extend/delay grunts A LOT on big points to put you off and it needs to be called more by umpires. https://t.co/OKZygbVO3I
— Taylor Fritz (@Taylor_Fritz97) July 14, 2023
say his name taylor say alcatraz
— 🌱 (@nnakalinskaya) July 14, 2023
Nah his is consistent and if he ever extends it it’s when he blasts a winner so doesn’t matter 😂
— Taylor Fritz (@Taylor_Fritz97) July 14, 2023
An apology: those of you who were following us on Friday might recall a riveting chinwag about how best to consume challah – I was, indeed, called a heretic for suggesting one might use it for a sandwich. For that, I feel no sorrow whatsoever, but I did omit to say that it is (also) tremendous when dipped in the sauce of whatever meat you’ve cooked.
It’s raining in SW19, but for now, the roof remains open.
Preamble
Afternoon all and welcome to Wimbledon 2023 – day 14!
Obviously we all say this every year, but what a fortnight it’s been … and what a fortnight it still is. Because what we’re about to see has the potential to be one of the great matches.
Though excessive hyperbole is my job – to the extent I’m even using the tautology “excessive hyperbole” – please be certain, these are not words I use lightly. But contextually and actually, Carlos Alcaraz [1] v Novak Djokovic [2] is as compelling, thrilling and downright spectacular a match-up as exists in sport right now, and it’s ours, all ours.
Let’s begin with the context. Though Alcaraz is just 20, he’s very clearly a generational talent, a bouncing bundle of joy and aggression with a forehand like a sonic boom and a drop shot to marry your daughter. A month ago, he was a novice on grass, but since then has won Queens and rinsed his way to this final, perceptibly improving with every match. He’s also already won his debut biggun, at last year’s US Open … except missing from the field was Djokovic, prohibited from entering America because of his anti-vaxx stance. So today is his chance to expunge that asterisk from in the minds of all those who know just how ridiculous his opponent is – or, in other words, everyone.
Djokovic, meanwhile, is seeking his fifth consecutive Wimbledon – that’d give him a share of the men’s record, with Bjorn Borg and Roger Federer, Martina Navratilova holding the women’s with six – his eighth in total, which would again give him a share of Federer’s leading mark and put him one behind Navratilova. And, already out alone as the, er, most winningest man in majors history, a triumph today would put him beyond Serena Williams and level with Margaret Court on 24 titles. Oh, and he’s also on for a calendar year Grand Slam; it’s a lot.
Which is to say that men’s tennis has, over the last couple of years, become a sometime benevolent dictatorship, Djokovic the ageing autocrat taking ever greater pleasure in squashing youthful exuberance and optimism. Triumph and happiness are for him alone.
Generally speaking, dominant champions are good for sport, raising the levels of those around them and drawing the eyeballs of those keen to see if, finally, they can be bested. The problem here is that Djokovic is 36, and by annihilating the competition now, he is also compromising anything we might see in the distant post-him future. How can we get excited about a new big noise when they’re orders of magnitude quieter than the previous one? Other hand, though, there’s nothing sport, and individual sport in particular, loves more than a rivalry, and if Alcaraz can give us that, a surprise golden age is already upon us.
So, if that’s the contextual, what of the actual? Well, when these two met in the Roland-Garros semi-final, we were treated to some of the most devastatingly fascinating tennis imaginable, a battle of skill and will, of instinct and intellect, of fibre and charisma.
Djokovic, a biological freak hewn from elasticated iron with a sadistic computer for a brain, is the most mentally impregnable sportsman of our time. His defensive flexibility is hilarious, his offensive precision revolting, and somehow, in the autumn of his career, he’s sneakily become one of the greatest servers we’ve ever seen.
Yet, after two sets of their sensationally wondrous French Open semi, Alcaraz was in the ascendancy, his terrifying power and shocking touch giving Djokovic all he could handle. Except shortly after that, the stress of forcing himself to that level caused his body to break down, he cramped up, and was beaten down.
That seems unlikely to happen today. Temperatures in London are cooler, rallies on grass are shorter, and if there’s one thing we’ve learnt about the world number one, it’s that he learns – and quickly. If anyone can hit through Djokovic, Alcaraz can; but if anyone can repel Alcaraz’s hitting, Djokovic can. This could be epochal.
Play: 2pm BST
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