Beginners are lucky
A streak of victories in 34 matches since 2017, a tournament record of 92–10, not a single defeat on Center Court for more than 10 years — all these are Djokovic’s statistics with which he came to the Wimbledon final match with Alcaraz. The Serbian’s experience at the All England Club stood in stark contrast to that of his opponent, who was making just his third appearance at Wimbledon and just his fourth on grass.
Moreover, the Spaniard’s progress on grass is obvious: before fighting Djokovic on Center Court, he won an impressive victory in the Royal Club tournament.
Pressure of experience
Alcaraz had to overcome more than just his lack of experience on Center Court at Wimbledon. After all, this is only his second Grand Slam match after his victory at the 2022 US Open. By comparison, Djokovic made his 35th Grand Slam final appearance and broke former WTA star Chris Evert’s all-time record.
But when Alcaraz desperately tried to get into the game in the first set, the Serbian raced to a 6–1 lead, increasing the pressure on his opponent. Coming into the match, Djokovic already had an impressive record of 15 wins and 3 losses in finals after winning the first set, which made Alcaraz’s subsequent win even more impressive.
Revenge for Roland Garros
Just five weeks before the Wimbledon meeting, Alcaraz had already played against Djokovic in the semi-finals of Roland Garros. The Spanish tennis player later admitted that it was a difficult match for him. Such a statement cast serious doubt on his ability to compete with Djokovic on Center Court.
However, it was he who defeated the Serbian tennis player, one of the strongest and most resilient opponents in the history of sports. Alcaraz won the decisive 27-minute set 3–1 in the third set and showed superior fitness, making 18 winners compared to Djokovic’s three in the deciding set.
Overcome the impossible
Djokovic’s psychological dominance during tiebreaks has been a key part of his Grand Slam success in 2023. By the second set against Alcaraz, the 36-year-old had achieved 15 consecutive Grand Slam tiebreak victories dating back to his Australian Open second-round meeting with Enzo Cuco in January this year.
The last six of those 15 victories came during Wimbledon, but Alcaraz ended that streak at the most unexpected moment. With the score 5:6 in favor of the Serb in the second set tiebreak, the Spaniard made a set point and then scored three points in a row to level the score and fully feel the will to win.
Survive after the fifth
Everyone knows Djokovic’s ability to show maximum pressure towards the end of the game. He has won his last four five-set Grand Slam finals this way, beating Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2014 and 2019, Dominic Thiem at the Australian Open in 2020 and Stefanos Tsitsipas at Roland Garros in 2021.
Whether Alcaraz was aware of this record-breaking statistic from Djokovic, we do not know. However, the Spaniard fearlessly stood up to the 23-time major winner in the deciding set. And so we have a 20-year-old who beat a Serbian in a five-set Grand Slam final for the first time since Andy Murray at the US Open in 2012.