CHENNAI: The Wimbledon final is the one time of the year when royalty is out and about everywhere. In the stands. And on the grass. The 2024 men's final was no exception. Before the match, Kate Middleton. the Princess of Wales, was given a standing ovation by the capacity crowd on centre court. This was only her second public appearance since revealing her battle with cancer. In the two hours that followed, Carlos Alcaraz served a royal feast in a 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4) beatdown of Novak Djokovic.
While the Serb has lost in straight sets before in a Major final — two times to be exact over the last few years to Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev — this will be remembered for the manner of the win as well as some of the touch tennis Alcaraz displayed.
The 37-year-old, who was aiming to become the first player to win 25 Slams across genders, is the modern master of staying long enough in any match. Even when he's struggling, he has, more often than not, managed to get a foothold before finally blowing down the front door.
On a sun-kissed Sunday, the gulf in class showed. While one man was battling father time (to be fair, it's a miracle he made his way through the field one month after knee surgery), the 21-year-old was the epitome of quiet self belief.
Faster. Higher. Stronger... Better.
For vast swathes of this 150-minute, straight-sets encounter, what was stunning was how Alcaraz dealt with one of the greatest winners this sport had ever seen. He had seemingly killed jeopardy. This could well have been a first round match on the opening Monday of a Slam. The Spaniard was just that good. Aided and abetted by an ever-improving serve — he only lost nine points on his first serve (47 out of 56) — and touch play at the net (winning 16 out of 22), he stopped his opponent from developing any rhythm.
Djokovic let out a few primal screams in the third set to try and get his adrenaline going. However, these screams resembled that of Baby Simba from The Lion King. The alpha, the Spaniard across the net, was well in control of the proceedings. The second-seeded Serb, who had been something of a giant at the net in the first six matches of the tournament (143 of 184 points won; 78%), appeared lost, like a middle-aged person who had taken the wrong turn on the way home. Against Alcaraz, it was down to below 50%.
In that sense, this had the vibes of the beginning of a new era with a new Spaniard at the very top of the food chain. To be fair to him, over the last six-seven weeks, he has given off lots of 'I'm him' sort of performances.
Beating Jannik Sinner from two sets to one down to win the French Open semifinal. Beating Alexander Zverev from two sets to one down to win the French Open final. Beating Frances Tiafoe from two sets to one down to win in the second round last week. Beating a red-lining Daniil Medvedev after losing the first set in the semifinal. Now, this.
In terms of games won in a loss, this is one of Djokovic's biggest-ever losses in the final of a Major (in the 2020 French Open final against Nadal, Djokovic won seven games). Put it this way. The current World No 3 has beaten the current World No 1, World No 2, World No 4 and World No 5 in a little over a month to win two Slams.
An understandably downcast Serb had only admiration for his opponent after the match. "I was inferior on the court," the 37-year-old said. "He was a better player. That's it. He played every single shot better than I did. I don't think I could have done much more.... he wasn't allowing me to have free points on my serve. He played with a lot of variety. I have never seen him serve that way... he really outplayed me, he was better than me in every aspect."
As Centre Court rose in unison to applaud the repeat champion, it wasn't hard to think about whether this is the beginning of the Alcaraz Age. Tennis' new royalty.