Carlos Alcaraz ended Novak Djokovic’s hegemony at Wimbledon. A tournament that the Serbian has won seven times, despite the fact that he could not beat the Spanish in a tough and very long battle of almost five hours. Djokovic accepted the defeat with sportsmanship, approaching the net to congratulate a full Alcaraz and offered an impeccable speech acknowledging his rival’s merit: “I didn’t win, but I lost to a better opponent and I hope to come out stronger”.
“It hasn’t been a good afternoon for me, but it has been for Alcaraz, it has been an incredible final. I knew you played well on clay and hard courts, but not on grass. It is impressive how you have adapted to this surface. I want to congratulate Carlos and his entire team, they fully deserved to win this match, the way they played the final stretch of the match is impressive”, praised Djokovic, who challenged the man from El Palmar” I’ll try it on a hard court ”.
“What a quality at the end of the game, when you had to close it. You’ve taken good shots in the big moments and you totally deserve it. It’s incredible,” he surrendered to Alcaraz.
The Serbian did not hide his disappointment at having been defeated, but at the same time he was grateful for having been able to play so many finals in the past: “It is not pleasant to lose games like this, emotions are running high, but I must be very grateful because I’ve also won matches this close in the past, like the 2019 final against Roger, so maybe if I had lost more finals I would have won this one.” “We work all year to be able to be in games like this and I’m grateful to have been able to play so many games like this in my career,” he said.
Djokovic couldn’t help but be moved when he addressed his family to thank them for their unconditional support. On the verge of breaking down, the Serbian sent a tender message of love to his wife Jelena, whom he married in 2014, days after winning this same tournament and who witnessed the Wimbledon final from the stands with their two children.
