A new champion has emerged at the All England Tennis Club as Carlos Alcaraz claimed his first Championship at SW19. The Spaniard unseated Novak Djokovic after a classic battle – ending some incredible Wimbledon records in the process.
Alcaraz’s 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 victory over the Serbian saw him pick up his second-career Grand Slam title.
As a result of this, he prevented Djokovic from winning a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam. If the 36-year-old had won on Sunday, he would have equalled Margaret Court for the most Grand Slam triumphs in either men’s or women’s singles tennis history.
For now, though, Novak will have to stick with being “just” the men’s all-time leading Champion.
Despite an intense Final where Djokovic appeared frustrated, he gave full respect to his opponent even in defeat. The former World No.1 commended Carlos Alcaraz, saying he had elements of his, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal’s game to be the “best of all three worlds”.
It is certainly high praise for the 20-year-old – but he has lived up to the billing thus far with his fantastic win at Wimbledon.
Novak Djokovic sees various Wimbledon streaks and records vanquished by Alcaraz
Since 2002, every single Wimbledon men’s singles title has been won by either Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, or Andy Murray – until now. Carlos Alcaraz finally ended the big four’s iron grip on the trophy at SW19 thanks to his exploits on Sunday.
Meanwhile, on a more personal note, Novak Djokovic saw his championship-winning streak end at four in a row. The Serbian icon triumphed at Wimbledon from 2018 – 2022 (with the 2020 event cancelled due to COVID). He, therefore, comes up short of equalling Bjorn Borg and Roger Federer’s records of five consecutive titles.
Additionally, Djokovic remains one behind Federer on all-time Wimbledon titles, with seven to the Swiss legend’s eight.
But that is not all. Away from the silverware, Novak Djokovic saw his incredible Wimbledon match records come to an end in 2023, too.
For example, Alcaraz ended Djokovic’s 34-match win streak at the All England Club, a record that stretched back to 2017. This was the third-longest winning run in the Open era, behind Borg (41) and Federer (40) once again.
The most insane streak that the explosive Spaniard ended was Djokovic’s Centre Court run, though. Unbelievably, before the 2023 Final, Novak Djokovic had not lost on Wimbledon’s main court in over a decade.
His last defeat came in another Final – the 2013 edition, where Andy Murray overcame the Serbian. After this loss, Djokovic put together a record-breaking, 45-match win streak on Centre Court before Alcaraz beat him.
His only defeats at SW19 during that period – in 2016 and 2017 – were both on Court 1.
What is Novak Djokovic’s all-time Wimbledon record?
To rack up such an incredible set of Wimbledon records, Novak Djokovic has had to be formidable on grass.
The Serbian ace has been absolutely incredible throughout his career at the All England Tennis Club. His Win-Loss record stands at 92-11 – which works out to an astonishing 89%-win rate.
Seven titles and almost $23 million in prize money from the Championships then sweeten the deal further.
Djokovic is one of the most dominant grass surface players that the game of tennis has ever seen. But with this defeat, have we witnessed the beginning of a changing of the guard in the sport?
Featured image credit: Getty
