Carlos Alcaraz has stunned Novak Djokovic to win his first Wimbledon title and stop the Serbian from equalling Roger Federer on eight singles trophies.
Djokovic, 36, was looking to secure a fifth straight Wimbledon trophy and 24th Grand Slam title but top-seed Alcaraz won 1-6 7-6 6-1 3-6 6-4 as the Serbian lost on Centre Court for the first time since defeat to Andy Murray in the 2013 final.
It is a second major title for Alcaraz, 20, following his triumph at last year’s US Open and his victory means the young Spaniard will keep the world No.1 ranking and also ends Djokovic’s incredible run of 45 straight wins on Centre Court.
Djokovic went into the final as the heavy favourite but Alcaraz – who has far less experience on grass – has adapted his style to the surface and now adds his Wimbledon title to his Queen’s Club trophy in a truly remarkable summer.
Alcaraz approached the final wanting revenge after severe cramp saw him lose to Djokovic in the last four of the French Open last month and the youngster got off to a strong start against the 2022 champion, forcing him to save break point.
But Djokovic, looking to secure his 35th consecutive Wimbledon match win, bounced back to hold and then raced into a 40-love lead on the Alcaraz serve, converting his third break point before another hold of serve saw him lead 3-0.
Things got even worse for Alcaraz in game four as Djokovic opened up three more chances to break his opponent, securing the double break after the Spaniard put a backhand into the net in what was a horror start.
The duo traded service games to force a second-set decider as Djokovic, who already holds the record for the most Grand Slam tie-breaks won in a single year, looked to win his 16th major tournament tie-break in a row.
It seemed he was set to get the job done by racing into a 3-0 lead but Alcaraz battled back to 3-3 and Djokovic was slapped with a time violation before missing set point at 6-5, with Alcaraz levelling it up again before taking it 7-6 (8-6).
Alcaraz, after 26 minutes in game five, broke Djokovic with his seventh break point to lead 4-1 and after he comfortably held 40-15 and went 40-love up on the Djokovic serve in game seven, he registered his fourth break of the afternoon to take the third set 6-1.
Suddenly, Djokovic looked in huge danger and took a long toilet break, with Alcaraz now securing more breaks over him than he had suffered across the entire tournament in the build-up to the final, and the Spaniard held in the first game of the fourth set before he threatened yet another break as game two went to deuce.
Alcaraz secured a crucial break in game three and Djokovic completely lost his head, smashing up his racket, putting a dent in the net post as he received a warning and was loudly booed.
The Spanish star held to edge towards the title and some traded service games took us to 5-3 – with Alcaraz needing one more break to wrap up the final. Djokovic held but Alcaraz served out the fifth and final set to take it 6-4 to become Wimbledon champion on a historic afternoon in SW19.
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