Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts during his match against Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the men’s singles final at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
These are the kind of matches that play tricks with the minds of players approaching their 40s. One-sided finals and defeat at the hands of a much younger opponent trigger self-doubt and force them to rethink their long-term plans. So what if you are Novak Djokovic, the greatest tennis player of all time.
The 37-year-old’s 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 loss to 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final on Sunday might bring an end to tennis’ golden period aka the ‘Big 3’ era. Roger Federer has retired, Rafael Nadal’s career is as good as over and on the world’s most storied court, there were enough signs that Djokovic too might be in the last stage of his sparkling career. He might stick around but it looks increasingly unlikely that the Serb will add any more Grand Slam titles to his record tally of 24.
Last year too, Djokovic had lost to the same opponent but it had been a five-set thriller, the two players going toe to toe till Alcaraz prevailed. It was anyone’s match that would have made Djokovic think that he still had it in him to win Slams. He would have found peace by telling himself that it was not his day.
Fighting right until the end 👊
Another superb Championships run from Novak Djokovic 🇷🇸#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/uDVBNnI9Ln
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 14, 2024
Today was different. Alcaraz’s overwhelming superiority in his straight-sets win would have made Djokovic feel inferior – it is a feeling he isn’t used to. The young champ blew away the veteran off the court. The pace of his serves and groundstrokes and the sublime touch in his drop shots was too much for Djokovic.
It was an unusual start to the final. The GOAT was showing nerves and the young champion was on a roll. Djokovic would double-fault and get broken, Alacraz would hit booming aces to hold serve. The Serb would net regular forehands, the Spainard would pull off impossible shots with ease.
After Alcaraz took the first two sets easily, Djokovic, for a brief while, tried to claw back in the contest. He had done that so many times, but not today. He seemed to have lost the old touch. Maybe, time and age had finally caught up. He has been doing it for far too long and the signs of wear and tear were there to see. He had a heavily-strapped knee, a reminder of the surgery he had a month ago. But more than that, it seemed it was a tired mind that was responsible for the loss.
After Federer and Nadal left the scene, there were those who thought that Djokovic would have it easy. It wasn’t true, Djokovic seemed to be missing the two as there was no one around to push him to raise his game. And it’s tough to see a 21-year-old with great manners and a golden smile as your arch rival and motivate yourself to knock him over.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 14-07-2024 at 21:48 IST
