Five weeks after undergoing surgery on his right knee, World No.2 Novak Djokovic renewed his inter-generational rivalry with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the Wimbledon Championships 2024 on Sunday. A fourteen-minute opening game, with seven deuces and five break points - defending champion Alcaraz and seven-time winner Djokovic kickstarted the final of the Wimbledon final in grand fashion on the Centre Court. In the rematch of last year's final at the All England Club, Kate, the Princess of Wales, made a rare public appearance after her cancer diagnosis.

Living up to his title favourite tag in the summit clash, Alcaraz launched an all-out attack on second seed Djokovic in the opening set of the Grand Slam final. Defending champion Alcaraz got the better of Djokovic in the opener as the Spaniard won the first set 6-2 on the Centre Court. Djokovic was forced to come to the net eight times in the first set by Alcaraz. After earning a double break and holding his serve, Alcaraz ensured the first set was over at the 41-minute mark following a mammoth opening game.

Producing a similar show in the second set, Alcaraz overpowered Djokovic 6-2 to put himself on a famous straight-set win over the Serbinator. Though Djokovic staged an epic fightback in the third set, Alcaraz was not stopping in the decider as the rampant Spaniard outclassed the record-time Grand Slam winner to retain his crown at the All England Club. Alcaraz won the third set tie-break to secure his fourth Grand Slam title. Red-hot Alcaraz crushed Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4) to extend his major finals (4-0) record.

Carlito's road to 2024 Wimbledon title

Alcaraz joins Roger Federer in elite club

Alcaraz joined the elite company of Roger Federer with his successful title defence at the Wimbledon Championship. The World No.3 has become the second player in the professional era after Federer to register wins in his first four major finals. The Wimbledon champion is the only sixth men's player since 1968 to claim the French Open and Wimbledon titles in the same year. The 21-year-old has joined Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal, Federer and Djokovic in the special club.

Djokovic denied record 8th Wimbledon title

Djokovic struggled to enter the final this season before setting a date with Alcaraz in the final of the Wimbledon Championship. Interestingly, Djokovic also failed to defeat a top-10 player this season. The 37-year-old lost his World No.1 ranking to Jannik Sinner, who won the Australian Open title. Alcaraz succeeded him following the Spaniard's French Open title triumph. The newly-crowned Wimbledon champion has also thwarted Djokovic's bid to match Federer for eight Wimbledon trophies.

What Alcaraz said about Djokovic after Wimbledon final

"Djokovic is an unbelievable fighter, I knew he was going to have his chances. It was difficult but I tried to stay calm going into the tie-break and tried to play my best tennis. I was glad at the end I could find the solutions. It obviously was not the result I wanted but of course in the first couple of sets the level of tennis wasn't up to par from my side. But credit to Carlos for playing elite tennis, especially from the back of the court, he had it all today," Alcaraz said after his second successive Wimbledon title win in London.

Did you know?

The 2024 Wimbledon champion has also won the 2022 US Open, 2023 Wimbledon and 2024 French Open titles in his impressive singles career. Alcaraz started playing tennis at the age of four for Real Sociedad Club de Campo de Murcia. His father was the tennis academy director at the time. Alcaraz recorded his ATP main-draw debut (aged 16) at the 2020 Rio Open. He is the first teenager to beat icons Rafa Nadal and Djokovic in the same tournament.

Alcaraz bagged his first major title at the 2022 US Open with a famous win over Norwegian Casper Ruud in the final. The Spanish superstar became the youngest champion at the Flushing Meadows since American Pete Sampras (19) in 1990. Last year, the World No.3 became the first player outside the Big Four (Djokovic, Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray) to claim a Wimbledon title since 2002. With his win over Alexander Zverev in the 2024 French Open final, the four-time Grand Slam winner became the youngest men's player (21) to seal Grand Slam titles on all three surfaces.

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