Changing Of The Guard: Carlos Alcaraz Dominates Novak Djokovic ...

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Carlos Alcaraz of Spain plays a forehand against Novak Djokovic of Serbia ... [+] in the Gentlemen's Singles Final during day fourteen of The Championships Wimbledon 2024 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Novak Djokovic remains the GOAT of men’s tennis, but he was humbled in the Wimbledon final by a man who may one day earn that title.

Thirty-nine days after he was on an operating table in Paris undergoing meniscus surgery, No. 2 Djokovic had no answers while getting overwhelmed by No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz, who used his speed and firepower to dominate 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4), in 2 hours, 27 minutes. It was hardly the instant classic that last year’s five-set win by Alcaraz over Djokovic proved to be.

“If [Alcaraz] beat him again here, then you'd really feel that [a changing of the guard] was the case,” John McEnroe said on ESPN before the match.

It was only the fifth time in his career that the 37-year-old Djokovic lost a major final in straight sets.

“Honestly, it is a dream for me winning this trophy,” Alcaraz said. “I think in an interview when I was 12 or 11 years old, I said that my dream is to win Wimbledon, so I’m repeating my dream.

“Yeah, I want to keep going but obviously it’s a great feeling to play in this beautiful court, to lift this amazing trophy. For me, this is the most beautiful tournament, the most beautiful court and obviously the most beautiful trophy.”

The 21-year-old Spaniard tied Roger Federer in moving to 4-0 in his first four major finals. He captured his second straight Wimbledon crown and second consecutive major after winning the French Open last month. Alcaraz joined Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker and Mats Wilander among men to have won four Grand Slam titles at age 21 or younger.

Alcaraz is just the sixth man to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year and the first to do so since Djokovic in 2021. Borg did it three times, Rafael Nadal twice.

“He was definitely very hot today,” Djokovic said of Alcaraz with a smile. “Obviously not the result that I wanted, especially in the first couple sets the level of tennis wasn’t up to par from my side but credit to Carlos for playing some really amazing tennis, very complete tennis from back of the court, serve. I mean, he had it all today.

“I tried to push him, saved the three match points, extended him a little but it wasn’t meant to be. He was an absolutely deserved winner today so huge congratulations to him for amazing tennis”

The get-in price for the final was $10,000 and ESPN’s Chris Fowler said he saw one ticket sell for $17,000.

Alcaraz gets £2.7 million, or just over $3.4 million for the win, while Djokovic receives £1.4 million, or close to $1.8 million.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts at the net as he plays against Carlos ... [+] Alcaraz of Spain in the Gentlemen's Singles Final during day fourteen of The Championships Wimbledon 2024 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Djokovic, who is 15 years and 348 days older than Alcaraz, still hasn’t won a tournament this season; he lost to 22-year-old Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open semifinals, a tournament Djokovic had won 10 times, and he was forced to withdraw from Roland Garros ahead of the quarterfinals with a knee injury. He was bidding for a record 25th major title and a record-tying eighth Wimbledon title. Djokovic fell to 7-3 in Wimbledon finals.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Carlos Alcaraz of Spain embraces Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the net ... [+] following victory in the Gentlemen's Singles Final during day fourteen of The Championships Wimbledon 2024 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

In a long game to open the match, Alcaraz broke in the first game when Djokovic hit a forehand wide.

Alcaraz broke again for 4-1 and took the first set in 40 minutes, closing it out with a service winner.

Djokovic made too many errors on return of serve and from the baseline.

In the second set, Alcaraz broke again in the first game and then held for 2-0 despite double-faulting twice.

“He’s toying with him, it’s insane,” Patrick McEnroe said on air.

In the seventh game of the second set, Alcaraz broke Djokovic for 5-2 despite trailing 0-30 in the game. The Spaniard raced all over the court to retrieve shots, and eventually wore the Serb down.

“Djokovic used to be able to intimidate guys with his speed or his defense and he’s up against that today and then a guy with this kind of firepower,” Patrick McEnroe said.

Alcaraz closed out the second set with a massive service winner.

“He played every single shot better than I did,” Djokovic said. “The way I felt on the court today against him, I was inferior on the court. He was a better player. That’s it. He played every single shot better than I did. I don’t think I could’ve done much more… he wasn’t allowing me to have free points on my serve. He played with a lot of variety. I’ve never seen him serve that way. 136. I’ve never seen him serve that fast. He must’ve had a really good serving practice day yesterday. He really outplayed me… he was better than me in every aspect of the game.”

In the third set, Alcaraz broke for 5-4 with a perfect two-handed backhand pass.

Alcaraz had three match points on his serve, but a fan yelled out on the third match point as he was hitting a swinging volley that landed out. It was Djokovic’s first break of the match.

In the tiebreak, Alcaraz hit a gutsy forehand drop shot to get to match point No. 4 at 6-4.

He closed it out for his second straight title when Djokovic returned a serve into the net.

“I’m glad that at the end I could find the solutions and I’m really happy to be in this situation and play a great title,” he said.

Asked about the Euro final later Sunday between Spain and England, Alcaraz said, "I've really done my job so let's see the football...It's gonna be a really difficult match. I watch it, let's see who's gonna win the Euros cup."