CARLOS Alcaraz continued his rise in men’s tennis today by beating Novak Djokovic for the second year in a row to retain his Wimbledon men’s singles title.
After a five-set classic 12 months ago in which the 21-year-old Alcaraz dethroned 37-year-old Djokovic as the king of Centre Court, today it took just two hours and 27 minutes as the young Spaniard overcame a late wobble to claim a 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 victory.
With his triumph, Alcaraz becomes just the second man in the open era after Roger Federer to win his first four Grand Slam finals, while he has outdone the great Swiss, Djokovic and Rafael Nadal by reaching that landmark before his 22nd birthday.
With Jannik Sinner having won the Australian Open and Alcaraz going back-to-back at the French Open and at Wimbledon, the new generation is gradually taking over.
Djokovic, who has won an all-time record 24 men’s singles Grand Slam titles, remains one behind Federer’s tally of eight Wimbledon crowns.
Alcaraz is now the ninth player in the Open Era to defend the Wimbledon men’s singles title after Rod Laver (1968-69) Newcombe (1970-71), Bjorn Borg (1976-77-78-79-80),
John McEnroe (1983-84) Boris Becker (1985-86), Pete Sampras (1993-94-95 and 1997-98-99-00), Roger Federer (2003-04-05-06-07) and Djokovic (2018-19-21-23).
