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Carlos Alcaraz Outlasts Novak Djokovic to Capture Wimbledon Men’s Title

This is the 20-year-old Spaniard’s second Grand Slam title.

Madison Williams

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic’s 2023 Wimbledon men’s final was one for the history books.

Alcaraz won in five sets, 1–6, 7-6(6), 6–1, 3–6, 6–4. The four-hour, 42-minute long match resulted in amazing rallies, deuces and a tiebreak before the 20-year-old Spaniard won his first Wimbledon and second Grand Slam title. He handed the 23-time Grand Slam champion his first Centre Court loss since 2013.

The Spaniard couldn’t hold back his emotions after taking down one of the Big Three. He laid down on Centre Court immediately after winning and then followed Wimbledon tradition by climbing to greet his family.

Djokovic won his last four Wimbledon appearances, excluding 2020 when the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alcaraz built off of his momentum throughout the match, even though he was blown out in the first set. Djokovic took a commanding lead to start by winning the first five games. Alcaraz held on, winning one game before Djokovic took the first set, 6–1.

Alcaraz changed the narrative in the second set when he won the first two games, but Djokovic didn’t back down. The set ended in a close tiebreak, but Alcaraz captured the set with an 8–6 win.

In the third set, Djokovic served a game that consisted of 13 deuces and lasted nearly 27 minutes. In comparison, the first set alone took 34 minutes. Alcaraz finally captured the game and grew his momentum in the process. The Spaniard went on to win the final two games to take a 2–1 lead.

Djokovic seemed a bit deflated at the beginning of the fourth set, but he quickly turned it around to win 6–3 to force a fifth and final set.

All Alcaraz needed to do was break Djokovic early on to go up 2–1. From there, he kept a hold on the Serbian to win the final set 6–4.

Alcaraz will remain the world No. 1 after the win. He enters the U.S. Open as the reigning champion.

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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.

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