Carlos Alcaraz vs Novak Djokovic score, result, highlights from Wimbledon 2023 men’s final as awesome Alcaraz ends Novak’s reign
Carlos Alcaraz outlasted the great Novak Djokovic to win a Wimbledon final for the ages 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 3-6 6-4.
Djokovic was chasing a record-equalling eighth success at SW19 and, after saving a break point in the first game, went on to demolish his 20-year-old foe in the opener.
Alcaraz dropped sets three and four to Djokovic by the same 6-1 margin when he was beaten at Roland-Garros but hung tight to pinch the second set on a tie-break before storming away with the third, which featured a pivotal break of serve in the fifth game that ticked over 24 minutes with 13 deuces.
Djokovic demonstrated his unmatched powers of recovery to hustle his way into a decider but Alcaraz would not be denied.
The 16-year gap between the world’s two outstanding players led to plenty of talk about a torch being passed this weekend, such as when a young Roger Federer knocked out Pete Sampras in 2001 or when the Swiss master’s Wimbledon reign ended at the hands of Alcaraz’s incomparable compatriot Rafael Nadal in 2008.
Eventually, Alcaraz secured a victory of his own to rank alongside those seismic feats but he looked in danger of being blown away during the first set as Djokovic demonstrated his complete ownership of a court where he had not lost since the 2013 final against Andy Murray.
An early second-set break was coughed up and felt symptomatic of the erratic shot selection and untimely errors that were undermining Alcaraz. However, the variety of shots he has mastery of is staggering. From 3-0 down in the breaker, he turned up the heat, saw Djokovic net a ground stroke on set point and passed his illustrious foe with a dreamy backhand return to level matters.