Carlos Alcaraz kicks off tennis’ post-Big Three era with career-defining Wimbledon win
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Novak Djokovic the way Djokovic has defeated so many others ... and the next few years of tennis now look very interesting indeed.
This is what generational change looks like: The greatest player of his generation, face down on the green grass of Wimbledon as a player 16 years his junior dismantles him the way he’s dismantled so many others.
Novak Djokovic came into this weekend as close to a sure thing at Wimbledon as you’ll find in sports, a four-time defending champion and winner of 45 straight matches at Centre Court. But over the course of five sets lasting almost five hours, 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz stepped up and wrestled the title right out of Djokovic’s hands. The final totals: 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, numbers that only hint at the epic nature of this a back-and-forth, edge-of-despair to peak-of-glory instant classic.
Alcaraz’s win was statistically impressive enough: nine aces to Djokovic’s 2, 66 winners to Djokovic’s 32. But the feel of the match was so much more significant. Alcaraz beat Djokovic by showcasing the exact same attributes — resilience, patience, lighting-quick strikes — that Djokovic has used to win 23 grand slams and counting.
Djokovic captured Sunday’s first set with such speed and relentless precision that it seemed he’d have the trophy in hand before America’s West Coast even woke up. Alcaraz had never played on a stage quite like Wimbledon before, had never faced a final opponent of Djokovic’s caliber before. (Djokovic missed the 2022 US Open, which Alcaraz won, because of the United States’ COVID restrictions.)
But then something strange happened. Alcaraz steadied himself and started to deploy his entire arsenal. Alcaraz possesses a cannon forehand, a dart-precise drop shot and unparalleled speed, but if there’s a knock against him, it’s the fact that he overextends himself too quickly. He cramped up and lost his French Open semifinal match to Djokovic earlier this year, but he’s clearly already learned from that debacle.
In a five-set match, there are so many opportunities to lose focus, lose the thread, lose the match. Alcaraz ran through all of those — senseless double-faults, dumb unforced errors, frustration with the crowd and himself — and yet still managed to regroup and win the damn match. That isn’t a case of someone learning from past mistakes, that’s someone learning in real time and making adjustments on the fly.
Djokovic has mastered this kind of instant recalibration. So many times, he’s seemed to be on the ropes or even doomed, and then, in a heartbeat, the challenger finds that they’re the prey. For Djokovic, seeing the turnabout happen to him must be an unsettling feeling indeed.
It’s far too early to make any kind of sweeping pronouncements on Alcaraz’s career. He’ll need to stack majors from now until 2033 or so to even get in the conversation with Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. But he already displays some notable attributes: the style and fire of Nadal, the charisma and shot array of Federer … and a face-to-face victory over Djokovic.
"People have been talking about his game consisting of certain elements from Roger, Rafa and myself. I’d agree with that. He’s basically got the best of all three worlds," Djokovic himself said after the match. "I haven’t played a player like him ever."
To be clear, Djokovic isn’t going anywhere. He’ll have many more major opportunities ahead, and he still has several years remaining at the pinnacle of tennis. But for the first time, he appears to have a legitimate post-Nadal/Federer challenger, someone who not only can beat him in the biggest matches, but already has.
Djokovic came along too late to be a true head-to-head rival for Nadal and Federer, but a little too early to be anything but part of their era. He tends to suffer in comparison to them, regardless of numbers. He’s cranky where Federer is suave, mechanical where Nadal is free-flowing. Rooting for him has always felt like rooting for the house in Vegas.
But now, Djokovic’s career arc just got a whole lot more interesting. Now he hears footsteps. Suddenly his march to amass trophies is a race against time. Now, in every grand slam tournament going forward, he — or we — will check the seedings to find out how early he’ll have to face Alcaraz. Because someone who can beat you where you’re at your best can beat you anywhere.
