In the 2023 Wimbledon final that took place this evening (Sunday), 20-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz defeated the oldest and greatest Serbian opponent of all, Novak Djokovic, to put the final touch on an already-dramatic tournament.
In fact, the final match of the most prestigious tournament in the world of tennis will be remembered as one of the best final matches in the history of the sport ever with the two opponents justifying expectations with a great thriller that included a turnaround and the crowning of a new champion.
Alcaraz just recently dethroned Djokovic from the top spot in the tennis rankings. Still, going up against the veteran Serb who has won the previous four Wimbledons, a total of seven over his prestigious career, and holds a record-setting 23 Grand Slam titles, he was expected to have a particularly tough fight. And so it was.
The two greats had recently met in the semi-finals of the Roland Garros, with Djokovic winning due to the young Spaniard suffering from an early injury and abandoning the competitive match, but tonight provided a final match for Pantheon, one that will be remembered for many years to come.
After the Serb opened the final match with an easy set win of 6:1, Alcaraz equalized in the second set and opened a turnaround of his own, dropping Djokovic 6:1 in the third.
The young Spaniard finally took home the biggest prize in tennis, but not before Djokovic managed to equalize, winning the fourth set 6:3. Alcaraz took the fifth and final set 6:4, winning the match 3:2.
The loss means Djokovic has missed an historic opportunity to increase the gap as the tennis player with the most Grand Slams in the Open Era with Slam number 24 and dropped his first match on the main court at Wimbledon since meeting Andy Murray in the same position exactly a decade ago - in the 2013 final.
Not only that, but the Serb missed a historic opportunity to win all four majors in a calendar year after taking the Australian Open and Roland Garros; something neither he nor Federer or Nadal have managed to do during their illustrious careers,
Alcaraz, who managed to become the youngest number 1-ranked player in history and won the United States Championship last year, has made history yet again, this time becoming only the fifth tennis player ever to win more than one Grand Slam before the age of 21.