Wimbledon 2023: Alcaraz topples Djokovic from throne

At 4 hours and 43 minutes, the final on July 16, 2023 between young Carlos Alcaraz and veteran Novak Djokovic was one of the longest finals in Wimbledon history. Seeing Carlos Alcaraz in the final wasn't such a surprise - the current world No. 1 had long been established as the favorite. How Novak Djokovic would fare was not known, although he did win the French Open in June, setting a new Grand Slam record. But Djokovic played sovereignly in the tournament and defeated opponents like the Russian Andrey Rublev, the number 7 in the world, or Jannick Sinner in the semifinals, the number 8 in the world, without much effort and with absolute certainty. Alcaraz was considered the favorite in the final, after all, with his "only" 20 years, he was still full of energy and drive, as one could not really expect from the old master. The match started all the more surprisingly, with Djokovic completely dominating the first set and winning 6:1. Somehow Alcaraz was credited with his nervousness for making so many mistakes. Incidentally, both made more mistakes than one was used to from them, both were obviously very tense, for both there was a lot at stake. After the Serb's dominance in the first set, the young Spaniard turned up the heat and very narrowly took the second set in a tie-break 8-6. That was pretty obviously a psychological important key moment, because that had obviously cost the Serb nerves, faith and energy. Accordingly, the Spaniard easily "danced" through the third set, which he won 6:1. Much of what Djokovic normally succeeds in doing, he failed to do today. A good example of this are his infamous stop balls, with which he always scores, but it was not to be today. Instead, Alcaraz scored with them. It was enough to make you tear your hair out. I say yes, there was a lot of nervousness on both sides, because both sides knew they had a lot to gain and a lot to lose. Now Djokovic's back was against the wall, because he was down 2-1 sets for a long time and had to win in any case, and the Serb came back as well. He showed calm and concentration and took the fourth set after Alcaraz double-faulted on serve to allow the second break, but that had taken strength. Would he be able to withstand the attacks of the young Spaniard, who also made many errors? After Alcaraz broke the old master in the fifth set with a couple of fabulous winners and took a lead of 2:1 and 3:1, a clear preliminary decision had been made. Hardly anyone doubted that the young Spaniard would lift the trophy, even if all Djokovic fans hoped that the Serb would win the title for the 8th time. At 5:4 and 40:30 Alcaraz served with match point to win the match, Djokovic parried once and hit the following aggressive passing ball from Alcaraz into the net: out for Djokovic, win for Alcaraz!